The Opposition INDIA bloc is set to hold a key meeting in the Capital today to discuss its strategy for cornering Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and the Centre after the recent row over the functioning of the poll panel. The bloc is likely to firm up its action plan for a wider agitation against Kumar and the BJP over the SIR issue.
Government and poll panel sources have, however, rejected the Opposition’s criticism and defended the SIR exercise and the CEC. Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge will represent the Congress, the Samajwadi Party has nominated two MPs – Harendra Malik and Maulana Mohibbullah Nadvi – for the meeting While Sonia Gandhi. This came after speculation over SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s absence from the meeting. The Congress and SP later clarified that Yadav is busy with the UP Rajya Sabha elections and will send his nominees instead.
Other leaders expected at the meeting include Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee from the TMC, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Supriya Sule of NCP (SP), CPM general secretary MA Baby, CPI chief D. Raja, CPI(ML) leader Dipankar Bhattacharya, and Independent MP Kapil Sibal, among others. The meet will also draw up a strategy to launch a nationwide agitation. Protests and public rallies against the Chief Election Commissioner will be held across the country, while an impeachment motion will be moved in Parliament. “Names are being removed from voter lists through calculated conspiracies, and the Chief Election Commissioner has become a puppet of the Modi government. This runs counter to the ethos and spirit of Indian democracy, which mandates that every eligible citizen’s vote be secure and every vote be counted impartially,” he added.
The Congress President said the party must ensure that every person’s vote is secure and elections are fair, so that the common people’s trust in India’s election process remains intact. Kharge said that with elections in five states in 2027, it is essential to ensure that no voter’s right is violated. The Opposition’s demand to restore 11 crore voters would, sources point out, mean putting back names that were removed during the verification exercise without completing that verification.
