NEW DELHI, September 30: The 19-party INDIA bloc on Wednesday announced a three-stage nationwide campaign against the Election Commission over allegations of electoral irregularities, culminating in a major rally in Delhi on November 1.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who addressed the media alongside Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, said the Opposition alliance had decided to “fight against the killing of democracy”.
The campaign will begin with district-level “Save Democracy” marches and demonstrations from October 2 to 8, followed by a march by Opposition MPs to the Election Commission on October 6. The November 1 rally in the national capital will be the bloc’s biggest planned mobilisation so far.
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Kharge accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of being the “real masters” behind what the Opposition has described as “vote chori”.
“The ECI is being made a kathputli (puppet), while Modi and Shah are the real masters behind this vote chori,” Kharge alleged.
He said the district-level protests would be held outside district magistrates’ offices, while the October 6 mobilisation would bring Opposition MPs together in a joint demonstration.
Kharge said the alliance’s campaign would seek wider participation from citizens, youth, NGOs and organisations committed to democracy and national unity.
Rahul Gandhi said “vote ki chori” had emerged as the central issue during the INDIA bloc meeting.
“There was a very good discussion. Vote ki chori was the central issue,” the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.
Gandhi alleged that Prime Minister Modi, Shah and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had attacked the country’s voting system.
“Hum chup nahi rahenge. We want to make sure that people involved are going to get punished,” he said.
Gandhi also claimed that the Opposition had succeeded in taking its allegations about electoral manipulation to the people. He described the INDIA bloc as the “collective defender of the Constitution” and said the alliance would seek “serious changes in the country” in the coming months.
Banerjee said the Opposition alliance remained united and warned that the agitation would intensify if Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was not removed.
“India alliance is together,” the West Bengal Chief Minister said, alleging that the public was bearing the consequences of what she described as a “big scam”.
She alleged that the BJP had won the West Bengal election through “forgery” and accused the party of “looting” the state.
Calling Kumar a “chor” and “daku”, Banerjee demanded his immediate resignation.
“Our forceful demand is Gyanesh Kumar agar nahi remove hua toh andolan bohat bade level pe jayega,” she said.
Banerjee also raised questions over the functioning of electronic voting machines, alleging that EVMs had been “burnt” and that new software had been developed, which she claimed had put the electoral system at risk.
Kharge said the bloc had also reached a common position on the use of ballot papers.
“100 per cent INDIA bloc ke members ne kaha hai ballot papers ka use ho,” he said.
The Congress president outlined six demands that the Opposition intends to make central to its campaign.
The first is the use of the pre-SIR electoral roll for future elections and greater transparency in electoral-roll revisions. Kharge said constituency-wise and booth-wise details of additions, deletions and corrections should be made available.
Second, the bloc has demanded that no legitimate voter be removed from electoral rolls without prior notice, reasons and an effective mechanism for appeal.
Third, it wants safeguards for eligible voters who could otherwise be excluded because of administrative shortcomings, documentation issues or lack of awareness.
The fourth demand is replacement of EVM voting with ballot papers, which the Opposition says is necessary to restore public confidence in the electoral process.
The fifth focuses on young and first-time voters. Kharge said the process for their registration should be made simpler and more accessible, alleging that changes to Form 6 had created unnecessary hurdles.
The sixth demand concerns institutional accountability and an Election Commission that, according to the bloc, enjoys confidence across the political spectrum.
The INDIA bloc meeting was attended by 19 parties, including the Congress, Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, NCP (Sharad Pawar), Shiv Sena (UBT), RJD, CPI(M), CPI, National Conference, PDP, JMM, CPI(ML), IUML, Kerala Congress (M), MDMK, VCK, RSP, Kerala Congress (Joseph) and All India Forward Bloc.
