New Delhi [India], October 6 (ANI): Raising slogans demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, the opposition INDIA bloc on Tuesday hit the streets of the national capital as their protest march towards the Election Commission began.
The demonstration marks an escalation in the opposition's campaign demanding the immediate cancellation of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner, with Congress MP Dr Dharamveer Gandhi terming the alleged deletion of voters from electoral rolls the "biggest fraud in Indian political history."
Speaking to ANI, Congress MP Dharamveer Gandhi accused the government of undermining democratic principles in coordination with the poll panel's leadership.
"Thirteen crore votes have been deleted, and those people have been deprived of their democratic right to vote. This is the biggest fraud in Indian political history, committed by the current government against the people of India with the cooperation of Gyanesh Kumar. We are going to fight to restore democracy and preserve the dignity of democratic institutions," Gandhi said.
Rejecting the BJP’s counter-allegation that the opposition is attempting to compromise constitutional bodies, Gandhi added, "They are the ones hijacking them. Who asked them to remove the Chief Justice of India from the panel for selecting Election Commissioners and the CEC? The BJP removed them. Investigating agencies, media, and institutions—they have extended their influence to turn them into their pocket organisations."
Weighing in on the opposition's demands, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Syed Naseer Hussain demanded a high-level inquiry to investigate alleged political interference in the election machinery.
"The main demands are crystal clear. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar must go; he should resign. The SIR (Special Intensive Revision) should be scrapped. All the voters who have been removed or deleted under SIR must be restored back onto the voter list," Hussain told ANI.
"There must be a high-level inquiry to expose who is behind this—who is trying to remain in power by stealing votes, who has been directing the Chief Election Commissioner, and who has stayed in power over all these years through various methods of vote manipulation," he added.
Rebutting the ruling party's allegations, Hussain pointed out that concerns over the poll body's functioning were flagged from within the system.
"The people sitting inside constitutional bodies—the two Election Commissioners appointed by the government—they are the ones who exposed it. It's not just us who exposed it! What has been exposed now was revealed by the two Election Commissioners currently serving in the Commission. They exposed it, and the Court is saying it. What bigger proof do you need than that?" Hussain claimed.
The march comes amid the Opposition's sustained campaign against alleged discrepancies in electoral rolls and its demand for greater transparency from the poll panel.
Leaders of several INDIA bloc parties will participate in the march and raise their concerns before the Election Commission (EC). The protest is part of a broader "Save Democracy" campaign announced by the Opposition, under which its leaders have been holding demonstrations and public programmes against the EC.
The march to Nirvachan Sadan is expected to further intensify the political confrontation between the Opposition and the poll panel over electoral roll-related issues. (ANI)
Demanding resignation of PM Modi, Amit Shah and CEC, opposition MPs march to Election Commission
