INDIA bloc MPs take CEC protest to Jantar Mantar, vow to continue protest until demands are met​

Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge board a bus carrying INDIA bloc MPs to Jantar Mantar for a sit-in protest demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, in New Delhi. PTI picture

Opposition MPs of the INDIA bloc reached Jantar Mantar on Wednesday for a fresh sit-in demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest came a day after Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders held an eight-hour dharna at Akashvani Bhawan calling for a meeting with election commissioners.

However, the buses were stopped by a multi-layered security cordon at Ashoka Road, after travelling a kilometre, near the Shangri-La hotel, barely another kilometre away from the protest site.

MPs of the Congress, TMC, CPI-M, CPI, RJD, IUML and some other parties were among the protesters, while Samajwadi Party MPs were not present.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge announced the decision after hosting opposition MPs for lunch at a restaurant on Janpath, central Delhi.

"Today, we will hold a sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar. Until our demands are met, we will continue to stage such protests," Kharge told reporters outside the restaurant.

"Whatever the Election Commission is doing, Narendra Modi is behind it. That means Modi ji himself is trying to destroy democracy," Kharge said.

Earlier, Kharge alleged that the Election Commission was making mistakes and "Modi ji is getting these mistakes done".

"We have decided that we will together take the voice of the people to the country. We will tell the people that their rights are being taken away. We are working hard to protest for the rights of people," he said.

"We are all united and will continue to fight against this government," he added.

After lunch, the MPs boarded buses for Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site in central Delhi.

"Today, we feel that we will protest at Jantar Mantar, which is a designated protest site, and tell the country that for us Gyanesh Kumar is not a legitimate Election Commissioner," Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi told reporters.

Rahul Gandhi also brushed aside a fresh FIR registered against him by the Delhi Police over his sit-in at Akashvani Bhawan, saying that he was aiming to take the number of cases against him to 100.

"I have 45 FIRs against me. My target is that there should be 100 FIRs against me. Every FIR against me is a medal for me," the 56-year-old said.

Rahul and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were named in an FIR over their alleged entry into Akashvani Bhawan without permission during Tuesday's protest, police said.

On FIRs registered against Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Kharge said: "You may register as many cases as you want; we are not going to be scared."

The opposition MPs said they were all united in their fight against the government and would raise people's issues and "how their rights were being taken away" by protesting on the streets.

"As I said yesterday, around 300 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs wanted to meet Election Commissioners, but they did not meet us. They told us that we cannot protest here," Rahul said.

"Modi ji, Amit Shah ji, Mohan Bhagwat and Gyanesh Kumar ji have finished democracy in the country. As I said yesterday, those who have done this work are traitors, and we will take action against them. I am telling you Gyanesh Kumar will have to resign," he asserted.

Congress leader Pawan Khera said, "Since Delhi Police under Amit Shah is not allowing us to protest anywhere in the capital, all buses carrying MPs of opposition parties are now moving to Jantar Mantar - the designated spot for peaceful protests. Article 19 gives us our Constitutional right for democratic protest."

RJD leader Manoj Jha said, "All culprits will be brought to book, and we will fight out this government together".

TMC's Derek O'Brien said, "We are all here together; we are all here united. We are together without any ego. We will fight these guys till they are out."

CPI's P Sandosh Kumar said Gyanesh Kumar should go as chief election commissioner and that the opposition parties were together in this fight.

Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh wrote on X: "For almost two years now the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has been relentlessly exposing, through factual evidence, the Vote Chori conspiracy hatched between the PM & the HM on one side and the CEC on the other."

Ramesh alleged that crores of genuine voters had lost their constitutional right to vote through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which he called "Shahenshah Instigated Removal".

He criticised Delhi Police for registering an FIR against Rahul and other leaders, describing their protest against the exercise as satyagraha.

"The diabolical duo is nervous, rattled and desperate. The writing on the wall is clear," Ramesh said.

Later, Ramesh told PTI that while Rahul Gandhi was fighting SIR, the "diabolical duo" was busy filing FIRs.

Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot said the situation in the country was "very delicate" and should concern citizens.

"FIRs will be registered. They can do anything," Gehlot told reporters here, referring to the action against the Gandhi siblings.

He also criticised the alleged police treatment of Congress general secretary K C Venugopal during Tuesday's protest.

Security tightened in central Delhi

Security was tightened across central Delhi on Wednesday ahead of the INDIA bloc's protest at Jantar Mantar.

Police put up barricades at several locations and deployed additional police and paramilitary personnel.