Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Opposition leaders, activists and civil society members marched to the Supreme Court in New Delhi on Monday and filed a joint petition against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and alleged poll irregularities, amid protests over what they called “vote chori”. The show of strength brought together senior INDIA bloc leaders, including Leaders of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, CPI leader D Raja, CPI(M) leader M A Baby, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and NCP-SCP leader Supriya Sule.
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The march came a day after the Chief Justice of India declined a request for a meeting with the two LoPs, saying the matter was sub judice. Earlier on Monday, Chief Justice Surya Kant said at an event that the “doors of the Supreme Court are open for everybody”, whether a commoner or a lawmaker, when asked how the opposition leaders could place their grievances.
A large crowd carrying flags and posters gathered in central Delhi and moved towards the Supreme Court through a heavily barricaded route. The march passed through Barakhamba Road, crossed police barriers at Bhagwan Dass Road and reached the court, where opposition leaders filed their plea alleging large-scale voter deletions and irregularities in the SIR exercise. The petition named the Election Commission of India, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi as parties in the case.
The plea was filed by Rahul Gandhi, Kharge, Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy, Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Supriya Sule, Sanjay Raut, D Raja, Mahua Majhi, M A Baby and E T Mohammed Basheer. Later in the evening, Gandhi and Kharge, along with other INDIA bloc leaders, went to the Supreme Court to sign certain documents linked to the petition. Kharge later said on X, “The fight against vote theft will continue. INDIA’s battle will go on. The sea of people stands witness, Modi-Shah’s accountability will be fixed for sure!”
Opposition leaders had said they wanted to submit a memorandum to the CJI seeking an end to “vote chori”, Kumar’s resignation, a halt to the SIR of electoral rolls and a return to the paper ballot format. As police stopped the march at Bhagwan Dass Road, several leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Tejashwi Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav, climbed on top of a vehicle. The procession then moved ahead after crossing the barricades, with supporters cheering and waving flags. Slogans were raised against the government and CEC Kumar, with protesters saying “vote chori” and the SIR exercise would not be allowed.
Chief ministers and senior leaders jostled for space in the procession, while employees in offices along Barakhamba Road filmed and photographed the gathering. Several young protesters wore Batman masks and costumes. Some protesters spray-painted anti-government slogans, including “Modi Must Go”, on pavements, and slogans against Modi, the RSS and CEC Kumar were written on the road at Mandi House roundabout. A large number of lawyers also joined the march.
Supporters had gathered in large numbers at the Barakhamba Road junction in Connaught Place, from where Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra led the protesters along with AISA chief Neha Bora. Among those present were Shiv Sena-UBT leader Sanjay Raut, CPI-ML leader Dipankar Bhattacharya, JMM’s Mahua Majhi, IUML leader E T Mohammed Basheer, Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy. Congress MPs Shashi Tharoor, Sachin Pilot and Mukul Wasnik, TMC leader Sagarika Ghosh, and activists Yogendra Yadav and Nandita Narayan also joined. Earlier, INDIA bloc leaders and supporters had gathered at the Constitution Club and travelled towards Barakhamba Road junction in four air-conditioned buses before starting the march.
At a press conference earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi announced the march and the decision to file a petition after the CJI declined a meeting request from the LoPs. He asked Kumar to “turn approver” and resign, saying the opposition’s fight was against “the bigger powers” behind him. “Resign, turn approver; you (Kumar) have made a mistake, but you are not the mind behind the mistake,” he said. “We know Gyanesh Kumar is unable to sleep at night; I am telling him directly, ‘you will not survive as CEC’,” Gandhi said. He added that the fight would continue even if it took days or years, and said people should keep protesting because the country could not be saved in a day or two. Describing the current protests as “tandav”, he said they did not require planning and added, “This is like Shiva’s dance and anyone can join Shiva’s ‘baraat’ (wedding procession).” Gandhi also claimed that 200 government officers were in touch with the opposition and were sharing information.
The march took place after Delhi Police denotified Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site and named Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground in east Delhi as new places for demonstrations. The Congress said democracy no longer mattered to those in power and called it a sign of “panic”, adding that it had become a matter of “demokursi”. INDIA bloc leaders had first marched from Parliament to the Election Commission on Tuesday but were stopped on the way, with Rahul Gandhi then staging an eight-hour sit-in inside the Akashvani Bhawan complex. They later tried to protest at Jantar Mantar but were stopped and removed by police, and marched to Rajghat the next day. The Cockroach Janta Party had also called for a protest against Kumar at Jantar Mantar, but it did not go ahead because of heavy security arrangements.
The BJP criticised Monday’s march as “pure theatrics” and said the Congress blamed the Election Commission for its defeats while its own “visionless” leadership was responsible for its setbacks. Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, “To gain power, the Congress sometimes rely on the Left, sometimes on cockroaches, and sometimes on the anti-national forces like George Soros and others. This shows just how low Rahul Gandhi and the Congress have stooped.” The opposition’s push has also come days after a report claimed internal differences within the poll body, saying Election Commissioners Sandhu and Joshi had objected on record at least 14 times over the last 10 months, including on SIR. With the march, the petition and the political exchanges, the battle over the electoral rolls revision and the “vote chori” charge moved from the streets to the Supreme Court on Monday.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
