CEC 'public impeachment' postponed to Saturday due to rain, says Rahul Gandhi

The INDIA bloc on Friday deferred its symbolic "public impeachment" of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to Saturday following rain in the capital, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said.

The INDIA bloc had planned a three-hour mock impeachment, with former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar presiding over the proceedings. Kharge was to move the motion against the CEC, while Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was scheduled to deliver the concluding remarks.

The move is part of the Opposition's escalating campaign against Gyanesh Kumar, whom it has accused of partisan conduct and mishandling the revision of electoral rolls. The parties have been demanding his resignation, alleging that the exercise has resulted in the large-scale deletion of eligible voters.

"We felt that it would be uncomfortable for seniors to sit in the rain and we would do the same programme tomorrow," he said.

Gandhi asserted that the entire Opposition stood together against alleged "vote theft" ahead of Sunday's march to Ramlila Maidan.

Inviting political parties, civil society groups and the public to join the march in large numbers, Gandhi said both programmes were against the "demolition of Indian democracy" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Gyanesh Kumar.

Accusing Shah of trying to prevent people from reaching Delhi to attend the march, Gandhi alleged that party workers and ordinary citizens traveling from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Telangana and Punjab were being stopped.

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"Now you watch what happens at Ramlila ground. You watch how many people come, and you watch how many people they manage to stop. And you will understand what is going on in this country," he said.

Gandhi said there was widespread anger and "emotional pain" over the alleged disenfranchisement of millions of voters. He alleged that votes were being stolen to benefit industrialists Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani, Modi, Shah and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.

Reiterating that the protests were part of a common struggle, he said: "There are no multiple protests. This is one protest. The entire Opposition is standing here. Anybody who wants to protest, any person, is welcome to come here."

"We are all standing together because we are defending the Constitution; we are defending the idea of India; we are defending the vote, which is the expression of all Indians," he added.

Samajwadi Party MP Dharmendra Yadav said all parties had agreed to defer the programme and stood with Gandhi in the fight. He confirmed that party chief Akhilesh Yadav would attend Sunday's rally.

Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien, representing Mamata Banerjee and his party, also stressed Opposition unity. Pointing to the presence of leaders from parties including the CPI(M), CPI, Shiv Sena, JMM, RJD, IUML and RSP, he said: "We are in this together. We will win this together."

Kharge's residence was chosen after the Opposition failed to secure permission for venues including the Constitution Club and Talkatora Stadium.

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It may be recalled that the controversy intensified after the Election Commission's SIR exercise placed 13.39 crore electors under the categories of absent, shifted, dead and duplicate (ASDD) across the country. The poll panel has maintained that the exercise was intended to remove ineligible and duplicate entries, while allowing genuine voters whose names were omitted to seek inclusion.

The Opposition's campaign received fresh impetus following reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on at least 14 occasions over decisions relating to the SIR and the management of electoral rolls. The Election Commission, however, has maintained that its decisions were unanimous.

The Opposition had earlier moved motions in both Houses of Parliament seeking Kumar's removal. However, the notices, submitted on March 12 with the signatures of 130 Lok Sabha MPs and 63 Rajya Sabha MPs, were rejected by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan on April 6.

The bloc is now preparing for its November 1 rally under the slogan 'Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao', with opposition leaders expected to intensify their campaign against alleged vote theft and the SIR exercise.