A delegation of INDIA bloc leaders met President Droupadi Murmu on Friday to submit a memorandum over alleged ‘vote chori’ (vote theft). This was part of the Congress-led Opposition’s campaign demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and raising concerns over the Election Commission’s handling of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The Opposition had sought the President’s intervention over its concerns regarding the functioning of the poll body and alleged irregularities in the electoral roll revision process. The meeting followed three consecutive days of protests by Opposition MPs in the national capital, during which they demanded Kumar’s resignation and raised concerns over electoral transparency and voters’ rights. During the Rajghat protest, Kharge and other Opposition leaders repeated their demand for accountability over the alleged ‘vote chori’ and called for Kumar’s resignation.
Track live updates The 10-member delegation included Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary MA Baby and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav.
Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien said the four-point memorandum submitted to President Droupadi Murmu called for the removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, an end to the SIR of electoral rolls, the reintroduction of ballot papers for elections, and a review of elections held over the past two years. Rahul Gandhi said that the agitation would continue until their demands were addressed.
The Opposition had initially written to the President’s office on October 2 seeking an appointment. After Rashtrapati Bhavan requested the names of the proposed delegation, the bloc submitted another request on October 5, seeking a meeting on October 7, 8 or 9, according to Congress general secretary K C Venugopal. The President’s office confirmed an appointment for an INDIA bloc delegation at 8 pm on Friday.
