NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday hit out at the INDIA bloc, saying the opposition alliance’s proposed nationwide protests against the Election Commission are aimed at “saving dynasty” rather than “saving democracy”.After INDIA bloc’s meeting, Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan accused the opposition of attacking the poll panel to create an “advance excuse” for a defeat in the upcoming elections.“Zero vision, 100 per cent frustration and an advance excuse for defeat. Before the upcoming elections, they are already setting the stage for their defeat. They are looking for excuses for their loss right now. A programme from October 2 to 8 has been announced – ‘Save Democracy March’. This is not a Save Democracy March. This is a Save Dynasty March,” Chouhan said.Chouhan also questioned the unity of the opposition alliance, pointing to the absence of several INDIA bloc leaders from the meeting.“Today there was an INDI alliance meeting, but the alliance had already fallen apart even before the meeting. Uttar Pradesh is a state where elections are due. Where was Akhilesh Yadav? If the issue is so important, why is Akhilesh Yadav not there? Where is Stalin? DMK has already said that wherever Congress is present, we will not sit there. Where is Arvind Kejriwal? Uddhav Thackeray is not physically present. We do not know about Pawar and Hemant Soren ji,” he said.“The condition of the INDI alliance has become such that a heart has been torn into a thousand pieces, one falling here and another there. The truth is that the INDI alliance is not ready to accept Rahul ji as its leader,” Chouhan added.Chauhan’s remarks came after the INDIA bloc announced a series of nationwide protests against the Election Commission and the SIR of electoral rolls, seeking to project opposition unity amid the ongoing row over voter rolls.Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the alliance would hold district-level “save democracy” marches and demonstrations outside district magistrates’ offices from October 2 to 8.
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“From October 2 to 8, we will hold district-level ‘Save Democracy’ marches and stage demonstrations outside the offices of every district magistrate. We will also make people aware of why we are undertaking this campaign,” Kharge said.The INDIA bloc meeting came days after a media report claimed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected on record at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions and orders on SIR that they said were issued without their knowledge or recommendation.Under fire over the reported objections by the two commissioners, the Election Commission has maintained that differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberations in any institution. It said all its orders carry full legal sanction and follow established statutory procedures.
