Opposition marches to SC over SIR

New Delhi: Opposition leaders and hundreds of supporters from across the country marched towards the Supreme Court on Monday and filed a joint petition over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and alleged poll irregularities. The show of strength came after a series of protests over the Opposition’s charge of “vote chori”. Leaders of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, were joined by Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, CPI leader D Raja, CPI(M) leader M A Baby, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and NCP-SCP leader Supriya Sule, among others. The march came a day after the Chief Justice of India declined a request for a meeting with the two LoPs, saying the matter was sub judice. The Opposition leaders had said they wanted to hand over a memorandum to the Chief Justice demanding an end to “vote chori”, the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, a halt to the SIR of electoral rolls and a return to the paper ballot format.

Their march to the apex court was stopped by police at Bhagwan Dass Road on a heavily barricaded route.

As police blocked the procession, several leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Tejashwi Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav, climbed on top of a vehicle.

The march moved ahead after crossing the barricades as supporters cheered and waved flags.

In a charged atmosphere, leaders and supporters raised slogans against the government and CEC Kumar, saying “vote chori” and the SIR exercise would not be allowed.

Tens of thousands of supporters had gathered at the Barakhamba Road junction in Connaught Place, from where they marched a few kilometres towards the Supreme Court.

Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra led the protesters along with AISA chief Neha Bora. Shiv Sena-UBT leader Sanjay Raut, CPI-ML leader Dipankar Bhattacharya and IUML leader E T Mohammed Basheer were also present, along with Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.

Congress MPs Shashi Tharoor, Sachin Pilot and Mukul Wasnik, TMC leader Sagarika Ghosh, and activists Yogendra Yadav and Nandita Narayan also joined the protest.

Earlier, INDIA bloc leaders and supporters had gathered at the Constitution Club and travelled in four air-conditioned buses towards the Barakhamba Road junction before starting the march to the Supreme Court.

They said they wanted to highlight the issue of “vote chori” and protest against the prohibitory measures imposed by the government to stop demonstrations.

Before the march, Rahul Gandhi told a press conference at the Congress headquarters in Indira Bhawan that the INDIA bloc would march to the Supreme Court and file a petition against the poll panel chief and “vote chori” after the Chief Justice declined to meet the LoPs.

He asked the CEC to “turn approver” and resign, saying the opposition’s fight was against bigger powers behind him. “Resign, turn approver; you (Kumar) have made a mistake, but you are not the mind behind the mistake,” he said.

“We know Gyanesh Kumar is unable to sleep at night; I am telling him directly, ‘you will not survive as CEC’,” he said.

Gandhi said there had been resistance earlier too, but it had not come onto the streets in the form of protests.

He said the fight would not stop and would continue even if it took days or years, and asked people to keep protesting as the country could not be saved in a day or two.

Describing the protests as “tandav”, he said, “This is like Shiva’s dance and anyone can join Shiva’s ‘baraat’ (wedding procession).”

He also claimed that 200 government officers were in touch with the opposition and were giving them information.

The latest march came after Delhi Police denotified Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site and named three new places for demonstrations: Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground in east Delhi.

The Congress said democracy no longer mattered to those in power and it was all a matter of “demokursi”, calling it a clear sign of “panic”.

Opposition parties have been protesting since last Tuesday, demanding the immediate removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar and accusing the prime minister and the BJP of “stealing” elections through “vote theft”.

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