'Nowhere else to go': INDIA bloc holds mock impeachment of CEC at Kharge's residence

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge interacts with Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi during a symbolic "public impeachment" of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, organised by the INDIA bloc, alleging that the right to vote was under threat as the poll panel was functioning at the behest of the Modi government, at his residence, in New Delhi. PTI

Parliament missed the debate. But the venue, Rajya Sabha Opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge's lawns, did sport the look of a legislature.

In progress was an event that its prime mover, Kharge's Lok Sabha counterpart Rahul Gandhi, acknowledged was "quite an absurd thing", forced by unusual circumstances.

The INDIA bloc, along with aggrieved voters and activists, passed a mock resolution to impeach chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, holding him guilty of "a criminal act and an act of treason" for deleting over 13 crore names through the SIR.

"Two hundred and fifty MPs, civil society members, common citizens, media are sitting in leader of Opposition Khargeji's garden and having a public impeachment of the chief election commissioner," Rahul declared at the end of a three-and-a-half-hour discussion.

Rahul said: "If you think about it, this is quite an absurd thing that is taking place. Number one, why are we meeting in Khargeji's garden? Number two, do we not have any other way to ask this question?"

"The reason we are standing here is because we have nowhere else to go. We have no other option. Every single institution... is closed for us. And so something quite strange -- and I don't think something like this has happened anywhere else."

At the outset, Kharge said: "The very design of the SIR process is fundamentally flawed. The objective of this process is not to include people in the electoral rolls, but to exclude them."

The charges on which the gathering sought to impeach Gyanesh included:

1. Breaking the law by allowing the BJP to access electoral rolls, delete and add voters, and manipulate the outcome of elections. "This is a criminal act and an act of treason against the nation and the Constitution of India."

2. Intentional deletion of 13.2 crore voters "in a manner that is partisan, opaque and flagrantly violative of natural justice".

3. Illegally amending Form 6 "without parliamentary oversight or knowledge".

4. Illegal centralisation, and preventing electoral registration officers from doing their duty through the ERONET/ ECINET software.

5. Wilfully violating "the law along with seven associates in the EC and unlawfully excluding the other two election commissioners".

6. "...Criminal conspiracy to manipulate and falsify the results of democratically held elections."

Former Speaker Meira Kumar presided over the event, held against a backdrop that resembled the old Lok Sabha.

The table of the "House" in front of her had MPs Saugata Roy of the Trinamool Congress and Awadhesh Prasad of the Samajwadi Party seated as vice-chairs along with Congress members Gurdeep Sappal and Muhammad Ali Khan.

MPs sat in four rows at the front, with civil society members and aggrieved voters seated behind. Meira's trademark "Baith jaiye" was delivered with the same polite sternness as 12 years ago.

"Gen Z -- and now, Gen Alpha -- are looking towards us with great hope. But how are we going to promise them a golden tomorrow if our voting system is faulty?" she said.

Early on in the programme, two voters -- one from Calcutta's Chowringhee constituency and another with roots in the Bengal capital -- narrated the pain of being deleted despite providing the prescribed documents.

Anita Jaiswal introduced herself as a daily wage earner and single mother who had moved from Calcutta to New Delhi in 2003 and registered as a voter here in 2012.

"Who gave you the right to delete my identity certificate (voter card).... My daughter is on a scholarship, for which this card was used as identity...," she said, speaking loudly and passionately. "I want to ask the government, who gave you the right? Prove which country I am a citizen of. You can't give me anything, who gave you the right to take away?"

Psephologist Yogendra Yadav condemned the poll panel for "falsely" accusing minorities of "being infiltrators or intruders".

Dipke-Mamata

Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke met Mamata Banerjee, here for Sunday's INDIA rally against "vote chori".

Dipke thanked Mamata for supporting the outfit's youth-led protests, while extending solidarity with the INDIA bloc rally on the "vote chori" charge. He, however, said the CJP would retain its independent identity and not join the Sunday protest by the Opposition parties.

"I just came to say thank you to Didi because the way she supported our first Jantar Mantar movement, she was always so strongly with the youth movement. When Saurav and Ashutosh were arrested by the Delhi Police, even then Didi stood with us very firmly," he said.

Mamata praised Dipika and the young activists for their role in the protests against the SIR and the Election Commission.