High drama as Oppn march to ECI blocked

Hindustan Times

2 days ago

Nearly 300 Opposition lawmakers on Monday morning marched from Parliament to the Election Commission of India (ECI) over alleged irregularities in voter rolls but were stopped and later detained by Delhi Police, prompting some parliamentarians to scale the barricades in what became a major show of strength. LoP in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders during a protest march from Parliament House to the Election Commission in New Delhi on Monday. (PTI)
The MPs, including Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, started marching around 11.30am, but were stopped at Sansad Marg at noon,metres away from the Parliament complex amid heavy deployment of police and security personnel.
Lawmakers sat down on the road in protest, and insisted that all protesting MPs must be allowed to reach the ECI office at Ashoka Road. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Trinamool Congress's Mahua Moitra and Congress's Sanjana Jatav and Jothimani climbed over the barricades and raised slogans against ECI.
At 1pm, they were whisked away by police in buses lined up along the road and taken to the Parliament Street Police Station. All the MPs were released after 2pm.
The Opposition lashed out at ECI but the poll watchdog and the Bharatiya Janata Party condemned the Congress.
'Today, when we were going to meet the Election Commission, all the MPs of the INDIA alliance were stopped and taken into custody. The truth of vote theft is now before the country. This fight is not political—it is a fight to protect democracy, the Constitution, and the right to one person, one vote,' said Gandhi.
'The united Opposition and every voter in the country demands: a clean and transparent voter list. And, we will secure this right at all costs,' he added.
The poll body said it had invited Congress leader Jairam Ramesh and up to 30 Opposition MPs for a meeting at noon, but the delegation did not attend. 'Jairam Ramesh had acknowledged yesterday, the invitation for 30 MPs to meet ECI today at 12 noon. Now he has changed his tone… How does one trust INC? They agreed to come with 30 MPs and then find ways to run away from EC,' said a poll official.
Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan accused the Congress of making unsubstantiated allegations. 'They believe in spit and run... this anarchy is dangerous for democracy. If Rahul Gandhi had even an iota of faith in the Constitution, he would have submitted an affidavit and presented his case before the Election Commission,' the minister said.
The controversy began last Thursday when Gandhi alleged that there were 100,250 'stolen' votes in the Mahadevapura assembly segment of Bangalore (Central) parliamentary constituency that helped the BJP win the seat in 2024, accusing ECI of 'colluding' with the ruling party.
His presentation, which also included names of the voters involved, had prompted an immediate reaction from ECI, which had asked him to send a signed declaration and oath to the effect. Poll officials have challenged Gandhi to either sign a formal declaration affirming his claims or apologise to the country.
The issue – along with the controversial special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar – has paralysed Parliament for10 days now.
Gandhi along with Yadav, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien, Aam Aadmi Party's Sanjay Singh, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's Tiruchi Siva and Rashtriya Janata Dal's Prem Chand Gupta were among the leaders at the forefront of the march. Later, O'Brien alleged that Delhi Police told them they would be taken to ECI but they landed up at Parliament street police station.
In a tweet, O'Brien raised the four demands that the Opposition wanted to flag to ECI – a first information report against former CEC Rajeev Kumar for manipulation of the voters' list, digitisation of the voters' list, no special intensive revision, and that no political party will share details of booth-level agents with ECI, as they fear it will reach the BJP.
'We will fight for our rights and justice. Now we will overcome every restriction of oppression,' Yadav said.
At least three women MPs, including TMC's Sushmita Dev and Mahua Moitra, stood over the fence erected by the Delhi Police while Yadav actually managed to jump over. Leaders raised slogans such as 'vote chor, gaddi chhor (vote thieves should quit) and 'silently, voters are being stolen.' Arambag MP Mitali Bag became unwell during the protests and was shifted to the hospital. Moitra, too, was feeling unwell, according to Opposition leaders.
Veteran leaders such as Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar also participated in the sit-in demonstration, with Kharge even courting arrest.
Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, later told the Upper Housethat Opposition MPs were prevented from reaching ECI.
'Look at the condition of democracy in India. 300 MPs want to meet the Election Commission, but the Election Commission says - you cannot come to meet. Because the Election Commission is afraid of the truth,' Gandhi said. In the evening, he hosted all Opposition MPs over dinner.
Congress leader KC Venugopal told the media that 'we could have sent the delegation if they had allowed us to reach the ECI office.'
Shortly after 11.30am, Opposition MPs gathered in front of the Makar Dwar – the main gate of the Parliament building – and started their march. All MPs donned a white cap that read: SIR (special intensive review) vote chori (SIR amounts to vote theft). The march moved slowly through the Talkatora Road entry gate of the Parliament complex and stopped soon after crossing the Transport Bhawan. MPs carried posters in different colours and languages to protest against ECI.