NEW DELHI: Upping the ante against CEC Gyanesh Kumar and PM Modi, the opposition INDIA bloc Wednesday announced a month-long nationwide agitation starting Oct 2, coinciding with the protest call given by various student bodies, including the Cockroach Janata Party, in Delhi and states. Crucially, the opposition collectively demanded that elections should revert to ballot papers from EVMs, and that pre-SIR electoral rolls be restored for future elections. It also sought an effective appeals mechanism for voters excluded from the rolls. The opposition has sought immediate resignation of the chief election commissioner.After deliberations, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge announced that the six-day agitation from Oct 2-8 would start with district-level “save democracy” protests. He said opposition MPs will march to the EC office in Delhi on Oct 6.Moving forward, the alliance will hold five major rallies in cities during Oct-Nov, including a mega rally in Delhi on Nov 1. The bloc appealed for expediting SC cases pertaining to SIR and electoral malpractices. To mount pressure, the opposition will seek to meet President Droupadi Murmu in Oct to brief her about their concerns regarding SIR and the Election Commission.The meeting was attended by Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee (TMC), Dipankar Bhattacharya (CPI-ML), Omar Abdullah (NC), Supriya Sule (NCP), Tejashwi Yadav (RJD), M A Baby (CPI-M), P Sandosh Kumar (CPI), K C Venugopal (Congress), N K Premachandran (RSP), Thol Thirumavalavan (VCK), Uddhav Thackeray (Sena UBT) and Hemant Soren (JMM).The opposition has for now paused the plan to submit a fresh removal notice against CEC Gyanesh Kumar. Kharge said the opposition agrees that Kumar is working like a puppet, with PM Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah pulling the strings.Rahul Gandhi said he told the leaders of the bloc that they are the “collective defenders” of the Indian Constitution. “It is a personal commitment of all INDIA bloc leaders, we are going to ensure that people who have destroyed Indian democracy are punished,” he said.
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Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said, “We demand that Gyanesh Kumar must resign immediately. If he is not removed, this movement can go very far….. We have to fight this battle together.” “Now it is clear, ‘Vanish Kumar’ is ‘chor’ (thief), ‘daku’ (dacoit)… he has stolen votes, burned, hijacked EVMs… rigged counting…. Gyanesh Kumar must resign immediately,” the former Bengal CM said, with Sonia sitting next to her and lauding her remarks.Rahul said there was a feeling in the room that the opposition had been successful in convincing people that elections are “stolen”. “There is a new sense of resistance, particularly among young people, that what is going on in India is wrong and needs to be stopped,” he added.The 19 parties included Samajwadi Party, CPI-ML, JKNC, JKPDP, JMM, IUML, KC(M), MDMK, VCK, KC(J) and AIFB. RS MP Kapil Sibal also joined Wednesday’s meet.
