Cockroaches, Batman, cut-finger garlands: Protesters bring colour to INDIA bloc's anti-CEC march

By 11 am on Sunday, the Inner Circle of Connaught Place was already crowded with people ahead of the march to Ramlila Maidan, some 2km away, as part of the "Chalo Dilli" protest planned at noon. There were students, activists, political groups from across the country and even ordinary people, carrying placards and chanting slogans.Standing near H-Block, 38-year-old Rakesh Solanki said, "We are here to ensure the chief election commissioner resigns." He had travelled all the way from Uttar Pradesh's Badaun and was part of a group who called themselves the Cockroach Volunteers."We are the real cockroaches.

We stood our ground, were on the ground on every protest call, got beaten up, and detained by police," he told HT as the crowds made their way to the Minto Road junction.Protestors bring colour to the marchThe Congress-led INDIA Bloc rally drew tens of thousands of people. Starting 1.30pm they marched from Minto Road to Ramlila Maidan. The entire way people could be heard chanting slogans against CEC Gyanesh Kumar.While there are no official figures for attendance, local police officials estimate over 50,000 people were present in the area.But the mood was not of anger with people dressed up in costumes and contingents of tribal workers in traditional attire, performing cultural dances.A 21-year-old college student from Mumbai, who introduced himself as 'Takshroach', said he was wearing a full cockroach costume.

"I came dressed as a bat on October 10. I order these costumes so I get noticed and can convey what I have come for. To believe in the electoral process is extremely important and that faith needs to be restored," he said. Earlier, around A-Block in the Inner Circle, wearing a bright orange dress Ramayan Singh Rathiya, a worker with the Chhattisgarh Adiwasi Congress, said, "My troop and I, around 200 of us, have come to represent our traditions and our people. We reached Delhi yesterday and have been preparing for the dance for a week."Just feet away, another group from Gujarat, led by Sunil Chaudhary, also presented a tribal performance.

Chaudhary said it was a way of representing their identity at the rally. "This music performance is called Dovdu and using this will bring attention to us so we can be heard. Those who have stolen the votes, must go."

Several participants also spoke of overnight journeys, travel disruptions and the effort involved in reaching the venue.

Jagbir Singh, a farmer from Rohtak in Haryana, said his group had left around 4am on Sunday. They were allegedly stopped at the Kundli border, and the police had installed barricades at the Grand Trunk Road. The group eventually reached the rally venue around 1pm. "Several buses were stopped. We were aware they would do this so we came in a car, but they still stopped us" he said.

Around 500 women from Mahila Congress from Chandrapur city in Maharashtra travelled to Delhi arrived on October 30 by train. "This is the voice of the people. The CEC should be removed from here," said president Chanda Veragde.

Wearing a Batman mask, Pramod Pandey, 45, stood at Minto Road. He is the organising secretary of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee and had come from Kolkata. "My sister-in-law's name was deleted from the voter list," he said when asked for the reason for his participation.

One group, dressed in black, could be seen wearing garlands of cut fingers. "These fingers are symbolic of all those people whose names have been deleted and stolen. The first step towards justice for them would be CEC's resignation," said Aditya.

Protesters also carried a kilometre long list of names of the deleted voters.

Around 1.30pm, Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders -- sitting in an open mini van -- reached the Minto Road- CP junction and headed to the Ramlila Maidan as the crowds followed them. They entered the Ramila Maidan around 3pm, where crowds had been swelling all morning.

Krishna Dubey, a joint secretary of the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress, said, "It's a very successful rally. We are glad we came but we are now going back because there is no space to even stand. Rahul Gandhi has shown the country his potential."