Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar will have to “go”, and there will be no backing down on that demand, declared the Congress on Saturday, as it gave a clarion call to the opposition’s INDIA bloc and “all concerned citizens” to join its protest march on Monday.
On Saturday, Banerjee was one of the several top opposition leaders who wanted to join the Cockroach Janta Party’s protest at Jantar Mantar to demand from the central government the removal of Kumar and the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision exercise, which has eliminated millions of voters across the country from electoral rolls. But he will travel to Delhi on Monday. She was detained by the Delhi Police, like thousands of CJP leaders and supporters, including the pressure group’s founder, Abhijeet Dipke. Her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, a polarising figure within the Trinamool Congress’ breakaway factions, has returned to Kolkata. The strategy had worked for the pressure group in July, when it forced the then education minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign over question paper leaks. The authorities didn’t take any chances this time as they took preemptive action, including detentions of CJP supporters, cutting down internet and transportation links in affected areas across the national capital. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Mamata Banerjee, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, NCP(SP)’s Supriya Sule, SP’s Rajeev Rai, RJD’s Manoj Jha, VCK chief Thol. Thirumavalavan, MA Baby and Rahul Gandhi met the President.
She told PTI that she had cancelled her flight to Kolkata after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi requested her to stay in Delhi, putting on display the renewed bonhomie between the two leaders.
Before the Congress announcement, the Delhi Police thwarted the CJP plan to dig in in the national capital to press for their demand for Kumar’s removal. Just a few days earlier, she endorsed Gandhi for the coveted post of the Prime Minister of India.
“We appeal to every Indian concerned about the survival of Indian democracy to join us in a massive protest march in Delhi on Monday – against the nationwide Vote Chori orchestrated by the Modi-Shah regime. Yesterday, we held a comprehensive meeting with various leaders to prepare for this march.
INDIA MPs, leaders, workers and all concerned citizens will be holding a huge protest march against Gyanesh & Co, and a delegation of our senior leaders will submit a memorandum to the Hon’ble CJI for his intervention in this crisis,” said Venugopal.
