New Delhi, Oct 9 (PTI) A delegation of Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi and TMC chief Mamata Benerjee proceeded to meet President Droupadi Murmu Friday evening after other MPs of the alliance were stopped at Vijay Chowk by police following their march from Parliament House.
The delegation, whose names had been sent to Rashtrapati Bhawan, headed to meet Murmu to hand over a memorandum on the “vote chori” issue.
Besides Kharge, Gandhi and Banerjee, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, NCP(SP)’s Supriya Sule, RJD’s Manoj Jha, VCK chief Thol. Thirumavalavan, IUML’s E T Mohammed Basheer, CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby, CPI’s D Raja were among those who were part of the delegation.
Carrying a big “Save Democracy” banner, INDIA bloc MPs marched from Parliament House to Vijay Chowk where they were stopped by the police which had put up barricades.
Earlier, the INDIA bloc MPs met at the Central Hall of the Samvidhan Sadan and deliberated upon their strategy to take forward their plan for agitation against alleged “vote chori” and press for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s ouster.
Kharge, Gandhi, Congress chief ministers DK Shivakumar (Karnataka) and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh), as well as other INDIA bloc leaders — Banerjee, Sule, Basheer, Baby, Raja, Samajwadi Party’s Rajeev Rai and Mohibullah Nadvi, Independent MPs Kapil Sibal and Pappu Yadav, among others, attended the meeting.
Ahead of the meeting when asked about the security arrangements in Delhi ahead of Saturday’s protest, Kharge said, “They are scared. ‘Aur jo aadmi darta hai vo aaj nahi toh kal marta hai’.”
The opposition’s aggressive push comes days after a report by The Indian Express said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi objected on record at least 14 times over the last 10 months, mostly to decisions and orders mostly related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Under fire over objections raised by two of its commissioners, the Election Commission had asserted that differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberations in any institution and that all its orders carry full legal sanction and follow established statutory procedures.
Last week, the INDIA bloc finalised a joint action plan on the SIR row, including holding rallies and “save democracy” marches.
The INDIA bloc leaders on Thursday staged a sit-in at Rajghat, Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial, to highlight what they alleged was “hijacking” of the country by Prime Minister Modi, Union Home Minister Shah and the CEC through a criminal conspiracy of “vote chori.”
Thursday was the third consecutive day of protests against the CEC and alleged vote theft by the opposition leaders, who pledged to continue their agitation until the CEC resigns. PTI SKC ASK ZMN
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