A massive drama unfolded in Delhi on Tuesday as INDIA bloc MPs led a march to Akashvani Bhavan in a bid to enter the Election Commission of India (ECI)’s office. The MPs demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, whom they have accused of facilitating alleged ‘vote theft’.
Follow live updates here . The BJP also countered allegations, saying the march to the EC office was yet another attempt by the Congress and its allies to create anarchy and relaunch Rahul Gandhi. Notably, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is also set to join the INDIA bloc’s stir against the CEC.
Rahul Gandhi also said that over 300 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs led a march from the Parliament today and only wanted to meet Gyanesh and other ECs.
In a media interaction, Rahul Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat hijacked the nation through ‘vote chori’, and Gyanesh Kumar helped them. The BJP claimed that Congress had become “intoxicated” by its defeat in several states and questioned its alleged support for giving voting rights to “absent, shifted, dead and duplicate voters” without verification. The party’s Parliamentary Party leader in the Rajya Sabha Manas Mangaraj said the decision was taken at the direction of party president Naveen Patnaik. “As directed by our party president Patnaik, oor MPs will participate in the protest march,” Mangaraj said, as quoted by news agency ANI.
Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi along with other MPs were earlier stopped by security personnel on Parliament Street in front of the Akashvani Bhawan and the Niti Aayog office during their march to demand the CEC’s resignation.
Several opposition leaders, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Trinamool Congress MPs Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O’Brien, were detained after police stopped the march, according to PTI .
