“If we continue to push the way we have in last 3-4 days, I guarantee this govt will fall. Oppn protests have shaken foundations of this govt, it is now scared,” said Rahul Gandhi to Opposition MPs.
INDIA bloc MPs met at the Central Hall of the Samvidhan Sadan here on Friday and deliberated upon their strategy to take forward their plan for agitation against alleged “vote chori” and press for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar‘s ouster.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress chief ministers DK Shivakumar (Karnataka) and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh), as well as other INDIA bloc leaders — Mamata Banerjee (TMC), Supriya Sule (NCP-SP), IUML’s ET Mohammed Bashir, MA Baby (CPI-M), D Raja (CPI), Samajwadi Party’s Rajeev Rai and Mohibullah Nadvi, Independent MPs Kapil Sibal and Pappu Yadav, among others, attended the meeting.
They are likely to deliberate and finalise a memorandum that would be submitted later to President Droupadi Murmu by a select group of INDIA bloc leaders at 8PM.
Ahead of the meeting when asked about the security arrangements in Delhi ahead of Saturday’s protest, Kharge said, “They are scared. ‘Aur jo aadmi darta hai vo aaj nahi toh kal marta hai’.”
The opposition’s aggressive push comes days after a report by The Indian Express said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi objected on record at least 14 times over the last 10 months, mostly to decisions and orders mostly related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.Under fire over objections raised by two of its commissioners, the Election Commission had asserted that differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberations in any institution and that all its orders carry full legal sanction and follow established statutory procedures.
Last week, the INDIA bloc finalised a joint action plan on the SIR row, including holding rallies and “save democracy” marches.
The INDIA bloc leaders on Thursday staged a sit-in at Rajghat, Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial, to highlight what they alleged was “hijacking” of the country by Prime Minister Modi, Union Home Minister Shah and the CEC through a criminal conspiracy of “vote chori.”
Thursday was the third consecutive day of protests against the CEC and alleged vote theft by the opposition leaders, who pledged to continue their agitation until the CEC resigns.
