Allies Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar (NCP-SP) and Congress will participate in Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS)’s October 4 protest march in Mumbai against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the alleged mishandling of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
On Wednesday, INDIA bloc revived demand to replace electronic voting machines (EVMs) with paper ballots and announced a six-point programme, including public rallies and a petition to the President, to target Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. NCP-SP lawmaker Supriya Sule and Congress leader Nana Patole announced their participation after Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray participated virtually in a meeting of the Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) on Wednesday and urged its constituents to join the October 4 march.
Uddhav Thackeray and MNS leader Raj Thackeray invited opposition parties and people to join the protest against the Election Commission of India (ECI)’s functioning and the SIR. “Democracy is being murdered in broad daylight. Gyanesh Kumar is benefiting the [ruling] BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party]. Congress believes democracy must be protected. The bloc accused Kumar and the government of manipulating voter rolls during the SIR to subvert electoral integrity. It alleged that Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah were treating the ECI as their puppets. Kharge called for reversing recent election law amendments.
Congress leader Nana Patole said they want the protest to go beyond political parties and become a people’s movement. Everyone who believes in democracy is now taking to the streets,” said Patole. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said everyone has decided to fight together in a united manner after a three-and-a-half-hour INDIA bloc strategy session. He confirmed that all participating leaders “100% agreed that instead of EVMs, paper ballots should be used”.
