The meeting will take place at the Constitution Club of India. The agenda includes a proposed removal motion against the CEC and plans for a series of protests across the country. New Delhi: The INDIA bloc is set to meet in the national capital on Wednesday (September 30) to work out a joint strategy against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
From Parliament to streets
The CWC also demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over its allegations about the election process. The INDIA bloc meeting will take up these demands and discuss future strategies in Parliament and outside it. Opposition parties are expected to work on a joint protest programme that could include public rallies and demonstrations in Delhi and state capitals. The proposed plan includes a large gathering at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan. The parties are expected to discuss the date for the rally at the meeting. The list also shows some parties will not attend the meeting. The Aam Aadmi Party has decided not to attend the meeting. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has also decided to skip the meeting. Congress President Kharge and General Secretary Venugopal have have contacted him regarding the meeting. Congress leaders have rejected suggestions that his absence from the INDIA bloc meeting has anything to do with the negotiations. The SP has maintained that the Lucknow programme is the reason for his decision to skip the Delhi meeting. 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.
It demanded Kumar’s immediate resignation, suspension of the SIR exercise and restoration of 13.3 crore names that have been removed from electoral rolls. His absence coincides with ongoing preparations by the Congress and the SP for seat-sharing talks for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. The CWC resolution has given the INDIA bloc a clear political line for the September 30 meeting. It called for Kumar’s resignation, suspension of the SIR and restoration of the 13.3 crore names that were removed from the electoral rolls.
AAP MP Sanjay Singh said the party is no longer part of the INDIA bloc, while making it clear that AAP would support a removal motion against CEC Kumar if it is brought in Parliament. The party has said it supports the issue being taken up in Parliament. Akhilesh has said he will be in Lucknow for the nomination of his party’s Rajya Sabha candidates. The party also said it would pursue the issue in Parliament, courts and through public demonstrations. Earlier reporting noted: The meeting is taking place a day after the Congress Working Committee demanded Gyanesh Kumar’s removal, calling him a “puppet” of the BJP.
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) had set out its position a day earlier. Earlier reporting noted: Government and poll panel sources have, however, rejected the Opposition’s criticism and defended the SIR exercise and the CEC. Earlier reporting noted: While Sonia Gandhi, 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.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi are expected to represent the Congress. Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee will also attend the meeting.
