New Delhi: INDIA bloc leaders on Thursday staged a peaceful protest at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial at Rajghat to highlight what they alleged was the “hijacking” of the country by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and the Chief Election Commissioner through a criminal conspiracy by indulging in ‘vote chori’.
The opposition leaders prayed at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial for “wisdom to the BJP government and the chief election commissioner”.
They also paid floral tributes at the memorial and later sat in a peaceful protest there.
The opposition leaders said they would continue their protest on Friday and are likely to meet in Parliament House in the morning.
Several leaders later said they would continue their struggle till CEC Gyanesh Kumar resigns, even though they did not disclose their strategy.
Congress leader and head of media and publicity department Pawan Khera told reporters, “You saw how INDIA bloc MPs and leaders peacefully protested at Rajghat and paid respects to Mahatma Gandhi. We prayed for wisdom to this government, wisdom to CEC Gyanesh Kumar and prayed for protecting the vote of every voter as well as democracy in the country.”
CPI-M leader John Brittas said this protest will continue Friday also.
“Till Gyanesh Kumar tenders his resignation, INDIA bloc protest will be continuing. If his masters – Modi and Amit Shah – are bent upon protecting Gyanesh Kumar, they will also sink with him. We are proceeding with resolve and determination.”
CPI leader P Sandosh also said, “We will continue our protest tomorrow also. It will be better for the country if Gyanesh Kumar resigns soon.”
V Sivadasan of CPI-M said the unity of opposition parties is intact.
Earlier, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi alleged that Modi, Shah, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and CEC Kumar have destroyed the Constitution and asserted that they will be brought to justice for their conspiracy.
Gandhi said this after Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge hosted a lunch for opposition MPs and leaders at Moets restaurant in Outer Circle, Connaught Place and decided to sit on a peaceful protest at Rajghat.
Then they left for Rajghat in air-conditioned buses parked outside the restaurant. The Congress workers walked along with the buses till Rajghat, which is a few kilometres away from central Delhi.
This is the third consecutive day of protests by opposition MPs and leaders. On Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi staged an eight-hour sit-in inside Akashvani Bhawan complex and on Wednesday the leaders staged a protest at the roundabout near Shangri-La hotel in central Delhi after they were stopped by the police and forcibly removed and detained.
Gandhi said around 300 MPs want to hold a peaceful sit-in, but on the first day, we were stopped near the Election Commission’s office and on the second day were prevented from going to Jantar Mantar, and were “beaten up”.
“The truth is that Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Mohan Bhagwat, and Gyanesh Kumar have hijacked the country through a criminal conspiracy. They have destroyed the Constitution and stolen votes.
“They (Amit Shah, Narendra Modi, Mohan Bhagwat and Gyanesh Kumar) will be brought to justice. This is our guarantee, and you will see it happen,” he asserted.
On the sit-in at Rajghat, Kharge said the opposition wants to highlight before the country that the BJP government is “snatching away our right to vote. Modi and Shah are snatching away that freedom which great leaders like Gandhiji, Nehru ji, and Sardar Patel ji had won for us”.
Besides Congress leaders, TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee, Menaka Guruswamy, Saket Gokhale, Samirul Islam and SP’s Rajeev Rai and Mohibullah, CPI-M’s Brittas, CPI’s Sandosh and RJD’s Sudhakar Singh were also present at the lunch.
