New Delhi:
The United opposition under the INDIA bloc on Sunday at its mega rally called for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s removal, warning of legal action over alleged “vote chori” and sharp attacks on the BJP.
At the INDIA bloc’s ‘Chalo Dilli’ rally at Ramlila Maidan on Sunday, Opposition leaders sought to turn growing anger over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls into a united political campaign.
The ‘Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao’ mega rally at Ramlila Maidan brought Congress, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, RJD, Left parties and other Opposition groups onto a common platform, with most of the leaders accusing the Election Commission of facilitating the electoral manipulation and the Modi government of undermining democratic institutions.
Addressing the INDIA bloc’s mega rally at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on Sunday, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “stealing votes” and said legal action would be taken against him.
He asserted that the Opposition would continue its fight to ensure accountability and justice.
The Congress leader described the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as “illegal” and pointed out that the Election Commission has removed 15 per cent of voters from the electoral rolls when the difference between the NDA and the INDIA bloc was just 3 per cent votes in the last general election.
“Amit Shah said Narendra Modi is not going anywhere. I would tell you, Narendra Modi cannot go anywhere; even if he wants to go, we will not let him. Narendra Modi ji and Amit Shah ji, understand this — after Gyanesh Kumar, we will stand against you and don’t forget that for the vote chori you have done, you will not go anywhere; there will be legal action against you and Narendra Modi,” he said.
He also said that the country will get justice, “and for the vote chori and selling the country to Adani, we will seek justice for that”.
“Don’t think of fleeing; you cannot flee. You will stay here, and this voice (of the people) will ensure action against you, Amit Shah and Gyanesh Kumar,” the Congress leader said.
Noting that Mamata Banerjee gave the example of West Bengal when talking of “vote chori”, Rahul Gandhi alleged that it had occurred in elections in states such as Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“Vote chori has happened through EVMs and through deletion and addition of votes from electoral rolls. After the 2024 polls, 13.5 crore voters were removed from the voter list — one in every seven voters, about 15 per cent of voters. The difference between us and the NDA was three per cent.
Referring to the large turnout, Rahul Gandhi said a message has gone to Prime Minister Modi, Home Minister Shah and CEC Kumar.
Rahul Gandhi also thanked people for turning up in large numbers at the INDIA bloc rally in Delhi against alleged vote theft. In a post on X, he said the massive turnout would ensure that democracy and truth prevailed, adding, “INDIA will prevail!”
“Thank you for turning out in such record numbers to raise your voice against Vote Chori. This groundswell ensures democracy will prevail, truth will prevail. INDIA will prevail,” he said. Earlier, senior INDIA bloc leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav and Mamata Banerjee, marched in an open bus from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence to the venue for the rally, which demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged electoral irregularities. The rally drew supporters and party workers from across the capital.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP of manipulating electoral rolls and alleged that 1.27 lakh voters had been deleted from the rolls in Uttar Pradesh.
He warned that those who came to power at the Centre through Uttar Pradesh would also be voted out of the state.
Describing the massive turnout at the rally as a sign of impending political change, Yadav called Ramlila Maidan the “Haldighati of democracy” and asserted that the movement to protect democracy would begin in Uttar Pradesh.
As this public meeting was being organised at Ramlila Maidan, it was reported that the votes of 1.27 lakh Hindu brethren in Uttar Pradesh had been deleted—which translates to a reduction of 31,000 votes in every Assembly constituency,” he said.
Referring to the recent MLC polls, Yadav said the people of Kashi (Varanasi) had reduced the BJP’s “double-engine” government to a “double zero”.
“We, in the INDIA alliance, will not stop. If we were unable to form the government in 2022, it is because of this very theft,” Yadav said.
Taking a dig at the BJP, he said those who once spoke of making India a ‘Vishwaguru’ were now busy manipulating electoral rolls. He also mocked the party’s claims of having an unshakeable political position, saying it should first consider whether it had any ground left to stand on.
“The change is in the offing, and ‘parivartan’ can come anytime,” he said.
“Those who came to power through UP will be ousted from there. And ‘UP wallahs (people)’, who are good at wpelcoming, are better at giving send-offs,” Yadav added.
