Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Kharge stated that both leaders have formally written to the CJI seeking an appointment between 4:00 PM and 5:00 PM to apprise the judiciary of the current state of democracy in the country.
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“Tomorrow, we are also going to meet the Chief Justice of India. I have written a letter, and Rahul ji has also written a letter. We have set a time between 4:00 and 5:00 PM. We will apprise him of the circumstances. We cannot demand anything from him; only with folded hands will we submit our request,” he said.
Launching a fierce attack on Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, Kharge accused him of stifling fellow election commissioners, preventing the poll panel from taking independent decisions.
“The CEC is a constitutional body. They are independent. They can take independent decisions. But he is not allowing them to take independent decisions. The two CEC members have openly exposed the commission – how the commission is acting, how irregularities are going, and how the members felt – but they have not taken any action on that either,” Kharge alleged.
He further claimed that the institution was being compromised to benefit the ruling party electorally.”All these things are happening because he wants ‘vote chori’ to continue. Whatever ‘vote chori’ he has done, with that only, he has formed the government in the Centre and the states,” he said.
Targeting the central government over the legislation enacted in 2023 regarding the appointment and conditions of service of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners, Kharge claimed unprecedented protections were introduced to shield officials.
“To create such an atmosphere, Modi brought the 2023 Act to protect the Chief Election Commissioner and members. That immunity he gave. That immunity is not even for the President of India, not the Chief Justice, but that is given to one Election Commissioner. Why?” Kharge questioned.
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“After giving that, he started this process – vote chori, EVM, all that, and whatever mistakes he (CEC) commits, he is exempted from them till his death. It means that it is a conspiracy to snatch votes and commit fraud on democracy, and he is doing all that, and we’ll fight it,” the Congress president asserted.
Further accusing Prime Minister Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of subverting democratic norms, Kharge said the country is currently witnessing an “undeclared emergency.”
“In the country, chaos is created by the Home Minister and the Prime Minister. An undeclared emergency is being declared. So, for that we fight,” he said.
Pointing to the heavy security arrangements put in place in the national capital to curb opposition and CJP protests, Kharge added, ” Yesterday, nearly 32,000 policemen were deployed. That itself shows how much fear he has.”
The remarks come after Delhi witnessed heightened security, mass detentions and a political confrontation throughout the day on Saturday as the CJP-led protest at Jantar Mantar, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, was met with a heavy police deployment.
Police detained the CJP’s Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das from an aircraft, barricades were erected at the Ghazipur border, and gates at 45 Metro stations remained closed, triggering allegations of a crackdown on democratic rights and a counterattack from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Around 1,000 people were detained in the national capital, including prominent Opposition leaders such as Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, CPI(M) leader Pinarayi Vijayan, and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee.
