I.N.D.I.A. bloc MPs will march to the Election Commission office in New Delhi over alleged electoral-roll irregularities and “vote theft” claims.
Opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc MPs will march from Parliament House to the Election Commission office in New Delhi on Tuesday, stepping up their campaign over allegations of “vote theft” and irregularities in the revision of electoral rolls.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi will lead the march. Participants have been asked to assemble at Makar Dwar of Parliament House at 10.30 am.
Participants include leaders of the Left parties, RJD leader Manoj Jha, NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule, National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and party leader Ram Gopal Yadav, and TMC leaders Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O’Brien.
The Congress has also invited the Biju Janata Dal, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), DMK and AAP in an effort to widen the mobilisation. Around 20 I.N.D.I.A. bloc allies and their leaders are likely to participate.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the march would be peaceful.
The MPs will seek to march to the Election Commission office on Ashoka Road and demand answers on alleged irregularities in the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. INDIA bloc leaders are also expected to seek a meeting with President Droupadi Murmu in the second week of October to raise their concerns.
The march comes amid intensifying street protests. The Congress-affiliated National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) staged a “living dead” protest on Monday, demanding the resignation and arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The mobilisation is part of a joint action plan finalised at an Opposition meeting on September 30. Under the plan, the I.N.D.I.A. bloc announced “Save Democracy” marches, demonstrations outside district magistrates’ offices and five major rallies to highlight its allegations concerning electoral rolls.
However, differences have emerged over Tuesday’s protest. The AAP on Monday declined the invitation, saying it was pursuing its own campaign against alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise.
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said the party was holding protests at different locations every day and deliberately avoiding the use of its banner because the issue had become a “people’s movement”.
“As far as tomorrow’s protest is concerned, it is the I.N.D.I.A. bloc’s protest. So, the Aam Aadmi Party is not part of it. We are fighting this battle in our own way,” Singh said.
The DMK has backed the concerns but is unlikely to attend the protest, sources said. The differences have emerged amid political friction following the Congress and TVK joining hands in Tamil Nadu.
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which has had recent differences with sections of the Congress, welcomed the I.N.D.I.A. bloc’s protest. It said its own October 10 mobilisation should be viewed as a broader youth movement rather than the programme of any one organisation.
CJP co-convener Saurav Das said political parties, student groups, activists and citizens should participate in peaceful protests and assert their rights.
