New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi has described the INDIA bloc’s protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar as “Lord Shiva’s tandav”, saying the agitation will continue to take different forms as the Opposition presses its allegations of electoral irregularities.
Today, we are going to the Supreme Court; tomorrow it will be something else,’” he told the media at the All India Congress Committee headquarters, ahead of a planned march to the Supreme Court, where Opposition leaders want to submit a petition over the functioning of the Election Commission (EC). The police did not allow them to proceed as planned, prompting them to change their course of action. “My sister tells me that we should make a plan. This is Tandav. This is Lord Shiva’s dance. There is no planning in this. He described the agitation as a public movement in Delhi that had gathered pace over the previous four to five days. The police wouldn’t let us go. So we changed the plan. Did the result come from the plan, or did it come from the non-plan? There is no need for any plan. This dance is ongoing. This is Lord Shiva’s dance going on. In this, anyone can join Shiva’s procession ( Shiv ki Baraat ).
He said that the ongoing protests were part of a resistance against the government that had been going on for the past 10 to 13 years.
He said the movement did not depend on a fixed programme and would adapt to police restrictions. So I told my sister, ‘You are not understanding the point. “We want this, and the government is making a big mistake because we want to show the country that the government, PM Narendra Modi, is protecting Gyanesh Kumar,” he said. Earlier reporting noted: Quoting a discussion about strategy he had with his sister, Priyanka Gandhi, Gandi said he told her “she did not understand”. Anyone who wants to join, can come,” he said.
He cited the earlier protest near Akashvani Bhavan, where Opposition leaders had planned to travel by bus, sit at a location and get arrested. Earlier reporting noted: “The plan was that we would go by bus, sit there, and get arrested. Earlier reporting noted: The Congress leader then cited his Bharat Jodo Yatra, saying it acted as a unifier.
The INDIA bloc has demanded Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in voter rolls and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. “We went to the president of India. The Congress leader also returned to the Opposition’s meeting with President Droupadi Murmu on October 9.
Rahul accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of protecting the CEC and said the Opposition wanted to bring its allegations before the public through the march. He said that she had asked the delegation to provide evidence for its allegations of “vote chori” (vote theft). The president of India herself said, ‘Give me the proof. We are going to take the proof,” Rahul said. Rahul said he and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge had written to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant seeking a meeting to discuss their allegations.
The CJI declined their request, saying the leaders could pursue the matter through a petition before the court.
