The Congress youth wing has suspended dozens of office-bearers across multiple states for failing to attend the INDIA bloc’s rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on November 1. So far, over 80 office-bearers have been suspended and asked to explain themselves, and sources said the number could eventually rise to 500.
A review found that most office-bearers and workers did not check in, owing to a lack of technical awareness and interest. Slow internet speeds along the stretch from Minto Road to Ramlila Maidan also affected registrations. Around 60 Indian Youth Congress (IYC) office-bearers from Madhya Pradesh, at least 13 from Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh and around 10 from Haryana have been suspended, and the process is underway in other states, sources said. The IYC said it gathered around 15,000 people at the Minto Road assembly point to join Rahul Gandhi’s march to Ramlila Maidan, but only 2,831 people registered on the app.
Feedback is being sought in particular on the performance of district presidents appointed under the rejuvenation programme called Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan. The Congress may also act against district presidents who stayed away without a valid reason. Leaders from across the INDIA bloc addressed the rally, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah. We must remove these thieves. We will give our lives, we will fight, but we will not surrender. What I say always turns out to be true, doesn’t it? I am telling every citizen and every youth of India: Gyanesh Kumar will be removed from the post of Chief Election Commissioner. Gyanesh Kumar will go to jail. Without Gyanesh Kumar, neither Narendra Modi would have become Prime Minister nor Amit Shah would have become Home Minister.”
Ahead of the rally, which was held to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal claimed that 10 lakh people would attend. Party sources said turnout was below 10 per cent of that target, or under 1 lakh, and a review is being held since.
Sources said the Congress war room has also begun reviewing how many office-bearers and workers from the main party organisation attended the rally. Kharge said, “The current central government, as well as the governments in Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, are all governments of vote theft. Mamata Banerjee said people in Bengal, where the BJP defeated her party to come to power earlier this year, were victims of the SIR exercise” “We will not give up. At the rally, which was held against alleged irregularities in electoral rolls and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, Rahul Gandhi said: “Listen to me.
