SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
New Delhi: A delegation of INDIA bloc MPs met with President Droupadi Murmu and urged her to exercise her powers in seeking the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, the suspension of SIR, and the repeal of all Assembly elections held in the last two years, even as some of them staged a dharna late on Friday, October 9.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, were accompanied by All India Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee, J&K Chief Minister and National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah, NCP-SP MP Supriya Sule, CPI-M general secretary M. A. Baby, RJD Rajya Sabha member Prof Manoj Kumar Jha, CPI general secretary D. Raja, Samajwadi Party MP Rajeev Rai, and VCK president and MP Dr Thirumaavalavan Tholkappiyan.
After the meeting, Rahul Gandhi said, “I expected the President to deny that ‘vote chori’ is taking place; I was shocked, stunned that she accepted what we said. We will go to the Supreme Court on Monday to meet the Chief Justice of India and hand over a memorandum to him.
Gandhi added that the President asked the delegation to provide evidence supporting its allegations. “She asked us to provide evidence to substantiate what we have said. We will submit the evidence to her whenever she is available,” Gandhi said.
He described the meeting as satisfactory, noting that the President had neither rejected nor questioned the delegation’s submissions.
Gandhi further announced that the Opposition would approach the Supreme Court on Monday with a memorandum to the Chief Justice of India.
TMC leader Mamata Banerjee said, “The President has assured of an investigation and sought evidence.”
“We have submitted a memorandum. We have seen from her positive outlook… She said she will investigate; she will go through the details, and she needs evidence. She has asked us to send the evidence…The country is very concerned, and you, as a custodian of the Constitution, should take proper care so the democracy remains… She is very positive, and she responded that she will investigate.”
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, “Today, all the leaders of our alliance, especially Rahul Gandhi ji, Mamata ji and our other leaders, met the President and submitted our memorandum. The contents of the memorandum will be circulated to you later. We also raised concerns about vote chori and the serious mistakes made by Gyanesh Kumar.”
What memo to President said
In the memorandum submitted to President Murmu, the INDIA bloc parties demanded the repeal of a 2023 law providing lifelong immunity to the CEC and the ECs and a return to paper ballots for all elections.
They also demanded the restoration of 13.3 crore voters deleted “illegally” from the voter list and the repeal of all Assembly elections held in the last two years, in which conclusive evidence of “vote chori” had been found.
The Opposition leaders said the INDIA bloc MPs, representing more than 60 per cent of the country’s population, have approached the President with grave alarm over the manner in which the entire election system and the democratic framework of India have been “subverted” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to “steal” from crores of Indians their constitutional right to vote.
“This has destroyed the very foundation of our democracy,” the memorandum said.
“We have incontrovertible proof that ‘vote chori’ took place on a massive scale in election after election. The Assembly elections in Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Delhi and West Bengal were stolen. Both EVMs and electoral rolls have been completely manipulated by the BJP in several other Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
“Democracy is being murdered in broad daylight. This is a crime against the nation, with the chief election commissioner blatantly cheating and lying to the Supreme Court to cover up this crime,” the INDIA bloc leaders said.
“He (the CEC) is answerable to the Constitution and not to his political masters. No institution can be permitted to alter the rules governing that right, evade accountability for its decisions, and silence those who demand answers through evasion, repression and criminal conduct.
“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: Resignation of Gyanesh Kumar, the Chief Election Commissioner, and repeal of the 2023 law that provides lifelong immunity to the CEC and ECs,” the memorandum said.
It also sought immediate suspension of the SIR exercise and immediate restoration of all 13.30 crore voters “illegally” deleted from electoral rolls, return to paper ballots for all elections, and repeal of all Assembly elections held over the last two years in which conclusive evidence of “vote chori” had been presented.
“We approach you because, in moments when every other door is 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.
Dharna at Vijay Chowk
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Karnataka CM DK Shivakumar, Congress MP KC Venugopal, TMC MP Mahua Moitra, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, and other INDIA bloc leaders sat on dharna at Vijay Chowk while the INDIA bloc delegation met Murmu.
These developments come against the backdrop of INDIA bloc leaders protesting most of this week against the alleged anomalies in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll and seeking the CEC’s resignation over the same.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) communicated to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge that its representatives would not be able to attend the meeting with the President due to prior engagements in connection with the upcoming MLC elections in Maharashtra.
In a letter to Kharge, Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Sanjay Raut and Arvind Sawant said that on behalf of their party, they wish to convey “unequivocal and full support to the INDIA bloc under your leadership and the morcha spearheaded by Shri Rahul Gandhi Ji”.
MPs meet in Samvidhan Sadan
Earlier in the evening, INDIA bloc MPs met at the Central Hall of the Samvidhan Sadan here and deliberated upon their strategy to take forward their plan for agitation.
Kharge, 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—were among those who attended the meeting.
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‘.”
Refusing to discuss the impending meeting, TMC’s Mamata Banerjee said, “We will all sit together and discuss it, and then we will let you know.”
(With IANS & PTI inputs)
SOURCE : SIASAT
