INDIA Bloc Flags ‘Vote Chori’ to Murmu; Says She Sought Proof, Not Denied

New Delhi: Leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc on Friday met President Droupadi Murmu and flagged the issue of its "vote chori" claims to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and repeal of all assembly polls held in the last two years, with Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi saying he was "shocked" that the president did not deny the 'election theft' charge.

After the meeting, Gandhi said the opposition leaders would go to the Supreme Court on Monday to meet Chief Justice Surya Kant and hand over a memorandum to him too, as they wanted to avail all options available.

A delegation of INDIA bloc leaders met the president and handed over a memorandum to her on alleged "vote chori" while demanding suspension of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and restoration of 13.3 crore voters deleted illegally from the voter lists.

In the memorandum submitted to President Murmu, the opposition parties also demanded the repeal of the 2023 law providing life-long immunity to CEC and ECs, besides return to paper ballots for all future elections.

President Murmu sought proof of 'vote chori' from the leaders and the INDIA bloc will hand over the evidence it has to her when she is ready to accept it, Gandhi told reporters after the delegation comprising him, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, NCP(SP)'s Supriya Sule, SP's Rajeev Rai, RJD's Manoj Jha, VCK chief Thol. Thirumavalavan, CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby and CPI's D Raja met her.

"We approach you because, in moments when every other door has been closed, the people of India look to the Office of the President as the final guardian of that covenant. We appeal to your conscience, to your sense of justice, and to your abiding duty to the people of this Republic. Do not let their voice be silenced.

"We expect you as President of our Republic to discharge your duty to protect the Constitution of India decisively," the two-page memorandum said.

Alleging that "vote chori" has destroyed the very foundation of our democracy, they said they had incontrovertible proof that theft of votes has taken place in election after election and cited the examples of Haryana, Maharashtra, MP, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Delhi and West Bengal.

"Democracy is being murdered in broad daylight. This is a crime against the nation and the Chief Election Commissioner has blatantly cheated and lied to the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India to cover up this crime," the INDIA bloc parties said.

"We urge you, as the constitutional Head of the Republic, to take cognisance of this grave situation and use your good offices to ensure that the following demands are addressed without delay," they said.

The INDIA bloc MPs earlier met in the central hall of Samvidhan Sadan, where they deliberated on memorandum to be submitted to the President and finalised it.

They then moved from Parliament House to Vijay Chowk, where they were stopped by the police which had put up barricades. They were carrying a big "Save Democracy" banner and raised slogans against the government, the prime minister and the CEC.

As senior leaders met the president, the MPs continued to raise slogans at Vijay Chowk.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Kharge said the INDIA bloc leaders sought return to ballot paper instead of EVMs for future polls.

"The President asked for evidence of 'vote chori' which we will provide," he said.

Gandhi said the INDIA bloc's memorandum to the president clearly stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar have "conspired to destroy Indian democracy".

"President in no way denied what we said, she did not question what we said... she accepted our statement and sought proof of 'election chori'," the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.

Gandhi said he told the president that proof of 'election chori' is known to country as state after state has been "stolen" and 2024 election has been "stolen" and yet the President wants us to take "proof" to her.

"We will happily take proof of 'election chori' to President when she is ready to accept it," Gandhi said.

"I actually expected the President of India to deny that 'vote chori' is taking place; I expected the President of India to say 'no actually, India has a free and fair election system'. I was shocked and I was stunned that the President of India accepted what we said," he said.

In her remarks to the press, Banerjee said INDIA bloc is together and is strong and she thought the meeting was positive.

Chief ministers D K Shivakumar (Karnataka) and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh), besides Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, besides other INDIA bloc leaders attended the meeting in Parliament House and later marched in procession.

Addressing the MPs earlier, Gandhi said there is a "much deeper problem" than Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and it requires termination of the current government. He asserted that if the opposition continues to push the way it has in the last few days, the government would fall.

Opposition protests have shaken the foundations of this government which is now scared, Gandhi told INDIA bloc MPs at the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan.

"There is a much deeper problem than Gyanesh Kumar and it requires termination of this current government," the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha said.

"This is something that is worth fighting for and dying for," he said amid thumping of desks by the MPs.

The CEC is only a service provider and he has the gall to say he will not meet the elected representatives of people, Gandhi said, lashing out at Kumar.

"If we continue to push the way we have in last three-four days, I guarantee this government will fall," the former Congress chief said.

The opposition grouping has taken to the streets from Tuesday when they first marched from Parliament to Election Commission but were stopped on the way, with Rahul Gandhi staging an eight-hour sit-in inside Akashvani Bhawan complex.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the opposition MPs had lunch in central Delhi after which they staged a march first to Jantar Mantar and on Thursday to Rajghat and alleged that Modi, Shah and the CEC had hijacked the country through a criminal conspiracy of "vote chori".

The opposition's aggressive push comes days after a report highlighting internal differences within the poll body with by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi objecting on record at least 14 times over the last 10 months, including on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Last week, the INDIA bloc finalised a joint action plan on the SIR row, including holding rallies and "save democracy" marches.