New Delhi: Opposition MPs of the INDIA bloc decided to hold a sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar on Wednesday to raise the issue of ‘vote chori’ and seek the ouster of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, a day after their eight-hour dharna to press for a meeting with election commissioners.
The surprise announcement came after a solidarity lunch hosted by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. The members of Parliament soon after boarded buses, with some of them climbing the roof carrying the tricolour, as the procession crawled from Janpath to Jantar Mantar, bringing the high security area to a halt for the second day.
However, the buses were stopped by a multi-layered security cordon at Ashoka Road, after travelling a kilometre, near the Shangri-La hotel, barely another kilometre away from the protest site.
MPs of the Congress, TMC, CPI-M, CPI, RJD, IUML and some other parties were among the protesters, while Samajwadi Party MPs were not present.
“Today, we feel that we will protest at Jantar Mantar, which is a designated protest site, and tell the country that for us Gyanesh Kumar is not a legitimate Election Commissioner,” Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi told reporters.
The Congress downplayed the absence of some allies, saying that the protest plan was decided during the lunch meeting. The opposition MPs said they were all united in their fight against this government and will raise the people’s issues and “how their rights were being taken away” by protesting on the streets.
Congress MPs Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Deepender Singh Hooda, Imran Pratapgarhi and Imran Masood along with Seva Dal chief B V Srinivas, were seen on the roof of buses, waving the tricolour.
The opposition MPs got together for lunch at a South Indian restaurant at Janpath in central Delhi hosted by Kharge, after which they boarded buses and headed towards Jantar Mantar.
“As I said yesterday, around 300 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs wanted to meet Election Commissioners, but they did not meet us. They told us that we cannot protest here,” Gandhi said.
The dharna at the Akashvani Bhawan premises was held on Tuesday after police thwarted a march by opposition MPs to the Election Commission Office.
“Modi ji, Amit Shah ji, Mohan Bhagwat and Gyanesh Kumar ji have finished democracy in the country. As I said yesterday, those who have done this work are traitors and we will take action against them. I am telling you Gyanesh Kumar will have to resign,” Gandhi asserted.
Asked about an FIR being registered against him for entering the Akashvani Bhawan premises and staging an eight-hour sit-in there, Gandhi said, “I have 45 FIRs against me. My target is that there should be 100 FIRs against me. Every FIR against me is a medal for me.”
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that all “INDIA janbandhan’ parties had been invited for today’s lunch. But the decision for the lunch had been taken late last night and communicated.”
“It was therefore natural that some parties could not be represented. There is needless comment in some sections of the media on it. INDIA and other Opposition parties are united and stand in solidarity against Vote Chori, SIR and Delimitation,” he said in a post on X.
Congress leader Pawan Khera said, “Since Delhi Police under Amit Shah is not allowing us to protest anywhere in the capital, all buses carrying MPs of opposition parties are now moving to Jantar Mantar – the designated spot for peaceful protests. Article 19 gives us our Constitutional right for democratic protest.”
Earlier, Kharge said the Election Commission is making mistakes and “Modi ji is getting these mistakes done”.
“We have decided that we will together take the voice of the people to the country. We will tell the people that their rights are being taken away. We are working hard to protest those rights of people. We are all united and will continue to fight against this government,” the Congress chief said.
On FIR’s registered against the Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, he said, “You may register as many cases as you want; we are not going to be scared.”
RJD leader Manoj Jha said, “All culprits will be brought to book and we will fight out this government together”.
TMC’s Derek O’Brien said, “We are all here together; we are all here united. We are together without any ego. We will fight these guys till they are out.”
CPI’s P Sandosh Kumar said Gyanesh Kumar should go as chief election commissioner and they are together in this fight.
