The Congress-led INDIA bloc has received a no-objection certificate (NOC) from Delhi Police for its November 1 rally at Ramlila Maidan against alleged electoral irregularities, but the permission comes with a set of conditions related to crowd management, CCTV surveillance, speeches, transport and the time by which the gathering must disperse.
The opposition alliance plans to hold its biggest rally against alleged “vote chori”, or theft of votes, demanding accountability over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Congress general secretary KC Venugopal on Saturday met the heads of the party’s frontal organisations at the All India Congress Committee headquarters at Indira Bhawan in Delhi. He subsequently held a meeting with office-bearers of the Delhi Congress to review arrangements for the rally. The Congress has set a target of gathering 10 lakh people for the event and is mobilising party workers and supporters from across the country. The Congress has been granted a no-objection certificate for booking Ramlila Maidan from October 25 to November 3, subject to permission from the authority that owns the land, according to the police. The rally itself is scheduled for November 1, between 10 am and 5 pm. One of the explicit conditions is that the rally must end at 5 pm on November 1, after which the dispersal must begin. The November 1 rally has been preceded by a dispute over permission for another INDIA bloc programme planned for October 30, which the Congress had intended as a curtain-raiser to its main rally.
The opposition alliance plans to hold its biggest rally against alleged “vote chori”, or theft of votes, demanding accountability over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The police have said the programme cannot be extended under any circumstances. The party had alleged that it was denied permission to hold an event at the government-run Ashok Hotel, where 21 INDIA bloc parties planned a symbolic “public impeachment” of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
