New Delhi, Oct 6 — Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday said the Opposition would continue its fight to “save democracy” as INDIA bloc MPs marched from Parliament towards the Election Commission of India (ECI) headquarters, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
“This is a fight; we will keep fighting, and we will throw these thieves out. We are fully determined to save democracy, and we are fighting for democracy and nothing else,” Kharge said during the protest.
The INDIA bloc MPs, holding Tricolours and banners carrying messages such as ‘Save Democracy’, raised slogans against the CEC, BJP and RSS as they proceeded towards the ECI office.
Congress leader Supriya Shrinate alleged that Gyanesh Kumar had made changes to Form 6 arbitrarily, which, she claimed, could only have been done through legislation.
“Gyanesh Kumar is the name of the person who has left no stone unturned in destroying the democracy of this country. Gyanesh Kumar arbitrarily changed Form 6, a change that could only have been made through law. He said this change was made on the orders of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court yesterday made it clear that it had not given any approval for the change. The fact is, if people are raising their voices, why are they not allowing it...” Shrinate said.
Mamata AITC MP Saugata Roy said the Opposition was not concerned by the BJP's defence of the CEC.
“No, no, what the BJP says does not bother us, because they are the ruling party and they will defend Gyanesh Kumar, with whose help they have been winning elections, so we are not concerned. They said that there is no clearance from the SC on the changing of the format of Form 6,” Roy said.
Congress leader Ragini Nayak said the protest was aimed at protecting the democratic process and the Constitution.
“This is the time to save democracy and protect our democratic process from the assault on the Constitution of India and vote theft. I believe it is amazing that the whole Opposition is united and marching against the ECI; the fact is, their misleading deeds are revealed,” she said.
Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan said the Opposition had three key demands -- the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, cancellation of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), and conducting elections through ballot papers.
“There are three demands. Gyanesh Kumar should resign. SIR should be cancelled. And elections should be conducted through ballot papers. The whole country is witnessing this; they are taking away the rights of lakhs of voters,” she told IANS.
Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, along with several other INDIA bloc leaders, staged a dharna after being stopped from proceeding to the ECI headquarters.
Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Akhilesh Yadav, NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi, Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee and SP MP Dharmendra Yadav were also seen raising slogans as they proceeded towards the poll panel's office.
Delhi Police and other security forces were placed on alert in view of the protest, while barricades were erected outside the ECI office.
The DMK and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) did not participate in the Opposition's march.