‘Every FIR against me is a medal’: Rahul leads INDIA bloc to Jantar Mantar

• Rahul Gandhi leads INDIA bloc MPs to Jantar Mantar, declaring every FIR against him a ‘medal’.

• Congress, Gehlot and Tharoor attack government over police action and FIRs against Opposition leaders.

• Opposition renews demand for CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over ‘vote chori’ allegations and SIR.

Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and INDIA bloc MPs on Wednesday, 7 October headed to Jantar Mantar to resume their protest against chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, a day after a dramatic standoff with Delhi Police ended in the detention of several Opposition leaders and an FIR against the Congress leadership.

Brushing aside the FIRs registered against him and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra over the alleged unauthorised entry into Akashvani Bhawan, Rahul said he was prepared to face more police cases. “I have 45 FIRs against me. My target is that there should be 100 FIRs against me. Every FIR against me is a medal for me,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

The Opposition’s decision to move to Jantar Mantar followed a lunch hosted by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for INDIA bloc MPs at a restaurant in Janpath. The leaders subsequently boarded buses for the designated protest site, determined to continue their agitation over alleged electoral irregularities and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

“Today, we feel that we will protest at Jantar Mantar, which is a designated protest site, and tell the country that for us Gyanesh Kumar is not a legitimate election commissioner,” Rahul said, reiterating the Opposition’s demand for the CEC’s resignation, alleging that the government and the Election Commission of India (ECI) had undermined democracy.

“As I said yesterday, around 300 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs wanted to meet election commissioners but they did not meet us. They told us that we cannot protest here,” he said, referring to the Opposition’s attempt to march from Parliament towards the ECI headquarters on Tuesday.

Rahul also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and Gyanesh Kumar of having “finished democracy in the country”, asserting that those responsible would be held accountable. “I am telling you Gyanesh Kumar will have to resign,” he said.

The renewed protest came amid a political confrontation over the Delhi Police’s decision to register an FIR against Rahul, Priyanka and other Congress leaders over their alleged forcible entry into Akashvani Bhawan during Tuesday’s demonstration.

Congress Rajya Sabha MP and general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh accused Modi and Shah of being “nervous, rattled and desperate” as Rahul continued to raise allegations of ‘vote chori’ (theft).

'For almost two years now, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has been relentlessly exposing, through factual evidence, the Vote Chori conspiracy hatched between the PM and the HM on one side and the CEC on the other,' Ramesh said in a post on X.

He alleged that crores of genuine voters had lost their constitutional right to vote through what he termed the atrocious process of SIR, which he mockingly expanded as 'Shahenshah Instigated Removal’.

'When the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha adopts the method of satyagraha to highlight the injustices of SIR, the Delhi Police registers an FIR against him and other leaders,' Ramesh said. 'The diabolical duo is nervous, rattled and desperate. The writing on the wall is clear.'

Speaking to PTI later, Ramesh said that while Rahul was fighting against SIR, the “diabolical duo” was busy filing FIRs.

Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot also criticised the police action, saying the situation in the country was “very delicate” and should concern citizens. “FIRs will be registered. They can do anything,” Gehlot told reporters.

He said ECI members could have met INDIA bloc leaders at Parliament’s annexe to address the controversy surrounding the ‘vote chori’ allegations and SIR. Gehlot also expressed concern over what he described as a threat to democracy, saying young people should be particularly concerned about the country’s future.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who was in Berlin and could not participate in Tuesday’s march, said he was horrified by images of Rahul being manhandled and taken into detention, describing the government’s response to protests over the alleged disenfranchisement of 13 crore voters as “disgraceful”.

'At a time when Indian democracy is being ravaged by the disenfranchisement of 130 million (13 crore) voters, to protest is to stand with every citizen whose constitutional rights are being violated,' he said in a post on X, adding that he was expressing solidarity from afar.

Around 260 people were detained during Tuesday's protest, according to reports. Police forcibly removed several Congress leaders, including general-secretary (organisation) and Alapuzha MP K.C. Venugopal, Jalandhar MP Charanjit Singh Channi, Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Khera, K. Suresh, former Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda, Solapur MP Praniti Shinde, Mumbai North-Central MP Varsha Gaikwad and Rajya Sabha MP Imran Pratapgarhi.

The detainees were taken to the New Police Lines at Kingsway Camp and released at around 10.00 pm, the Congress said.

Delhi Police subsequently registered an FIR after receiving a complaint alleging that Rahul, Priyanka, other MPs and their supporters had entered the Akashvani Bhawan premises without permission.

With PTI inputs