Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday joined the Opposition leaders in launching scathing attacks at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the Ramlila Maidan rally in New Delhi against the alleged vote theft and irregularities in the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls, as he turned his offensive into a fervent poll speech ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections due next year, and hailed his party’s victory in the Varanasi MLC elections and warned of ousting the BJP from the state.
The people of India have given a clear message to Modi and Shah today: ‘your days are over’. “Those who once boasted about making India a ‘Vishwaguru’ are now busy manipulating the electoral rolls. “Prime Minister Modi, you have to choose between the country and Gyanu; the whole country is watching.
Akhilesh added that the people are set to save democracy, and this movement will begin in Uttar Pradesh,” he said. Congress’s general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal later said: “The people of India want to send a message to (PM) Narendra Modi and (home minister) Amit Shah about the way they are destroying the democracy of this country. This fight is between the country’s voters and its cheaters,” Yadav said.
“Today, Ramlila Maidan has turned into the Haldighati of democracy…People of UP know how to cordially invite someone but they know better how to send someone off. In the last Lok Sabha election, they were sent off partially. Spearheaded by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, the rally was participated by opposition leaders across party lines, including former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, CPI(M) general secretary MA Baby, CPI general secretary D Raja, and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, among others. “Who votes for them? They choose themselves. The public does not elect them. The current central government, as well as the governments in Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, are all governments of vote theft. Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti warned the Constitution was being hollowed out. We, the people of Jammu and Kashmir, have been ruined. But now you must save yourselves, lest they turn the entire country into Jammu and Kashmir. We are with you. Standing shoulder to shoulder, we are with you in your struggle.
But next year they will face such an exit that they won’t be able to come back,” Yadav said, referring to the BJP’s 33 seats as against 62 in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from the state. In 2019, they destroyed the Constitution there.
Likening the gathering to the “Haldighati of democracy”, referring to the engagement between the Mewar kingdom and the Mughal empire in 1576, Yadav said the public support reflects the possibility of change. Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that the democracy will survive “only if Modi goes” and called for the prime minister’s ouster. We must remove these thieves,” Kharge said, addressing the rally. Addressing the rally, she said: “The very Constitution that has given you the vote to change the government, to bring down the government, and to form a new government, they want to snatch that right away from you. Earlier reporting noted: Ramlila Maidan has turned into ‘Haldighati of democracy’: Akhilesh Yadav Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of engaging in vote theft and manipulation of electoral rolls, Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday said the Ramlila Maidan has turned into the “Haldighati of democracy” with a massive turnout of people and predicted that the “wave of support” would lead to political change. Earlier reporting noted: The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister was addressing the INDIA bloc “Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao” mega rally at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi. Earlier reporting noted: He alleged that the chief election commissioner was central to the “conspiracy” of vote theft and voter list irregularities, and claimed a private company was also involved. He said that those raising their voices against such practices faced conspiracies and suppression by the BJP government.
