Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi climbed atop barricades on Tuesday as INDIA bloc MPs marched from Parliament towards the Election Commission in New Delhi, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
A video of the incident has been widely shared on social media.
Visuals showed Gandhi climbing the barricades as the Opposition MPs and leaders took part in the protest march. The leaders were also heard raising slogans demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Kumar.
Rahul later took a jibe at the CEC in a post on X, saying, “, it’s done, bro. Time to resign.”
The INDIA bloc MPs later sat in protest near the NITI Aayog office. Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and NCP-SP MP Supriya Sule were among the leaders who participated in the march, ANI reported.
Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the government was stripping people of their rights and accused the Chief Election Commissioner of acting at its behest.
Kharge said the universal adult franchise secured after Independence was being undermined and alleged that the was functioning under the government’s direction.
“Look, we are fighting against the injustice of the fact that the government is stripping away everything – all the rights of the people. And today, the universal adult franchise that we received after Independence – this government is working to finish it off,” Kharge said.
Congress MP Dharamveer Gandhi, speaking to ANI, alleged that 13 crore votes had been deleted and accused the government of undermining democratic principles in coordination with the poll panel’s leadership.
“Thirteen crore votes have been deleted, and those people have been deprived of their democratic right to vote. This is the biggest fraud in Indian political history, committed by the current government against the people of India with the cooperation of Gyanesh Kumar. We are going to fight to restore democracy and preserve the dignity of democratic institutions,” Gandhi said.
Meanwhile, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Syed Naseer Hussain demanded a high-level inquiry into alleged political interference in the election machinery. He also called for Kumar’s resignation, the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and restoration of voters allegedly removed from electoral rolls.
