New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and others on Monday filed a petition in the Supreme Court over alleged large-scale voter deletions and irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The plea has also been filed by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Trnamool Congress Party (TMC) MP Saugata Roy, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Nationalist Congress Party (Pawar) (NCP-SCP) leader Supriya Sule, Shiv Sena-UBT leader Sanjay Raut, Congress Party of India’s (CPI) D Raja, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MP Mahua Majhi, CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML leader) E T Mohammed Basheer.
The petition was filed in the evening, according to the Supreme Court website.
Opposition MPs and leaders, accompanied by hundreds of supporters and activists, on Monday started their “March for Democracy” to the Supreme Court to submit a petition on their “vote chori” charge and against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Those leading the march included Leaders of Opposition (LoPs) in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Gandhi and Kharge respectively, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, CPI’s D Raja, Baby, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, besides Sule, Raut, CPI(ML) leader Dipankar Bhattacharya and Basheer.
Earlier, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant had declined to meet Rahul Gandhi on vote chori allegations, saying similar matters are sub judice on the judicial side in the Supreme Court, sources said on Sunday.
Gandhi and Kharge had written to the CJI seeking a meeting with him between 4 and 5 pm on Monday to hand over a memorandum demanding an end to vote chori, Kumar’s resignation, halting of the SIR of electoral rolls and switching back to the paper ballot format.
