logo
INDIA bloc plans short march as it prepares for long battle on voter rolls

INDIA bloc plans short march as it prepares for long battle on voter rolls

Cong strategists believe Gandhi's press conference in Delhi, where he presented "evidence" of election irregularities, including alleged fraud in the Mahadevapura Assembly has struck a chord in nation
Archis Mohan New Delhi
Listen to This Article
The Congress and its allies in the Opposition INDIA bloc on Sunday vowed to intensify their campaign against what they call 'vote theft' in the run-up to 79th Independence Day, even as the Election Commission of India (EC) insisted that Rahul Gandhi's allegations were built on 'forged evidence', 'wrong analysis', and 'absurd conclusions'.
On Monday morning, floor leaders of INDIA bloc parties — led by Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha — will march from Parliament House to Nirvachan Sadan, the EC's headquarters, Congress sources said. It's a mere kilometre's walk, but a symbolic act of
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Sri Lankan MP backs India amid tariff row
Sri Lankan MP backs India amid tariff row

Economic Times

time6 minutes ago

  • Economic Times

Sri Lankan MP backs India amid tariff row

Synopsis Amid India-US trade issues, a Sri Lankan MP, Harsha de Silva, backs India. He highlighted India's support to Sri Lanka during its economic crisis. De Silva urged against mocking India's situation. He reminded everyone of India's generosity when Colombo faced difficulties. India provided significant financial assistance to Sri Lanka in 2022. The MP's statement occurred during a parliamentary debate. New Delhi: Amid the India-US tariff standoff, a Sri Lankan parliamentarian has come out in support of New Delhi and drawn attention to how the Indian government came to Colombo's aid when the island nation was facing a crisis. During a recent parliamentary debate on the growing India-US trade tension, Colombo district MP and former minister Harsha de Silva reminded critics of India's generosity during Sri Lanka's difficult days, according to people in the know. "Don't laugh at India. Don't mock them when they are down, because when we were down, they were the only ones to lend us a hand," a source quoted de Silva as saying. "It ain't over until the fat lady sings. We witnessed you laughing. Don't laugh. India expected the tariffs to come down to 15%, and so did we."India had provided close to $4 billion in assistance to Sri Lanka during the economic crisis in 2022.

Mallikarjun Kharge Hosts Dinner For INDIA bloc MPs In Delhi
Mallikarjun Kharge Hosts Dinner For INDIA bloc MPs In Delhi

NDTV

time14 minutes ago

  • NDTV

Mallikarjun Kharge Hosts Dinner For INDIA bloc MPs In Delhi

New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hosted a dinner for the INDIA bloc MPs on Monday that was attended by the likes of Sharad Pawar, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, amid the opposition's concerted bid to close ranks against the electoral rolls revision in Bihar and alleged poll rigging. Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav, Dimple Yadav and Jaya Bachchan, DMK's K Kanimozhi and TR Baalu, RJD's Misa Bharti, Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Sanjay Raut and Priyanka Chaturvedi, Congress' Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were among several opposition MPs who attended the dinner at the Hotel Taj Palace here. While mostly INDIA bloc MPs were at the dinner, Sanjay Singh and Sandeep Pathak of the AAP, which is not part of the grouping, also attended. The dinner comes just days after top INDIA bloc leaders, in a show of unity, had a dinner meeting at the residence of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi where they vowed to fight against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar as well as what they described as the "vote chori model of the BJP and Election Commission". That was the first physical meeting of top leaders of the opposition bloc since they last met in June 2024 at Kharge's residence, soon after the Lok Sabha elections. During that meeting, Rahul Gandhi had given a presentation on the "vote chori model" being allegedly perpetrated by the BJP through the Election Commission. Earlier on Monday, opposition MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, Kharge and Pawar, took out a protest march from the Parliament House to the Election Commission office against the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar and alleged "vote chori", but were stopped midway by the police and briefly detained amid high drama. As opposition MPs, wearing white caps with a red cross on the words 'SIR' and "vote chori", started walking from Parliament's Makar Dwar to the EC office, carrying placards and banners, they were stopped by the police by putting up barricades outside the PTI Building. Many of the MPs sat on the road and raised slogans while some women parliamentarians climbed the barricades. They were later whisked away by police in buses lined up along the road and taken to the Parliament Street Police Station. All the MPs were later released. "This fight is not political, but it is aimed at saving the Constitution. This fight is for 'one man, one vote' and we want a clean, pure voter list," Rahul Gandhi said as he was being taken away in a bus after being detained. "They cannot talk as the truth is before the entire nation." After being released from police detention, he said, "This has not just happened in Bengaluru, but in different constituencies across the country. The Election Commission knows this; it knows that this data will explode. We will bring out in the open what it is trying to control and hide, and it will explode. The EC knows this." Gandhi on Thursday cited data from the 2024 Lok Sabha polls to claim that over 1 lakh votes were "stolen" in the Mahadevapura assembly segment in Karnataka through five types of manipulation, including duplicate voters, fake and invalid addresses, and single-address voters. The opposition is already up in arms over SIR in Bihar and has been protesting in both Houses of Parliament against it, alleging that the EC's exercise is aimed at "disenfranchising voters" in the state ahead of the assembly elections due later this year. Their demand for a discussion on SIR in both houses has been rejected, with the government contending that no discussion on the functioning of a constitutional body can be taken up in Parliament.

Congress's Vote Theft Claim "Factually Incorrect": Poll Body
Congress's Vote Theft Claim "Factually Incorrect": Poll Body

NDTV

time16 minutes ago

  • NDTV

Congress's Vote Theft Claim "Factually Incorrect": Poll Body

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Monday described as "factually incorrect" the claims of "vote theft" made by the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi during a protest march here. The top poll body issued a "factcheck" on the claims made by the opposition INDIA bloc, which also led earlier in the day led a protest march against the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar. #ECIFactCheck ✅ Details in image below Reference links 👇: Link_1 Link_2 Link_3 Link_4 Link_5 Link_6 Link_7 — Election Commission of India (@ECISVEEP) August 11, 2025 The EC shared a list of documents in support of its claims of transparency in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar. The evidence included video testimonials of representatives of political parties such as RJD, Congress, and CPI. The poll authority also shared details of its meetings with representatives of political parties before, on and after publication of draft electoral rolls in Bihar, contending that it was committed to the highest degree of transparency at the field level while conducting the SIR exercise. "Pure Electoral Rolls strengthen democracy," said the EC, which also shared a link to the daily bulletin issued by it since the publication of the draft electoral rolls.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store