The CJP’s 24-hour ultimatum to Delhi Police ends Tuesday regarding a protest at Jantar Mantar. Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi and INDIA bloc leaders filed a Supreme Court petition against the Election Commission. “Jantar Mantar is the designated protest site,” said Ashutosh Ranka. The court will hear the opposition’s plea on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi might host INDIA bloc MPs and student activists for a high-tea at his residence on Tuesday, news agency PTI reported, citing sources. The Opposition is expected to hold a joint press conference over the CEC row in the afternoon.
CJP's ultimatum to Delhi Police
The Cockroach Janata Party's 24-hour ultimatum to the Delhi Police over a protest date will end on Tuesday. The outfit co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka had given the cops 24 hours to provide a date for holding a protest at Jantar Mantar, warning that the party would announce its next course of action if no response came within the deadline. Ranka and fellow co-convener Saurav Dass entered the Parliament Street police station to press for a date.
“Jantar Mantar is the designated protest site and we are here to seek dates on which we can carry out our protest,” Ranka said. “Where should I carry out our protest? They should tell us in the next 24 hours how we can proceed with the protest. Otherwise, we will give our next call,” he added.
Oppn files SC petition after ‘March for Democracy’
On Monday, the INDIA bloc MPs undertook the “March for Democracy”, led by Rahul Gandhi. While the march was stopped on the Bhagwan Das Road, Gandhi and other Opposition MPs reached the Supreme Court, where their legal team completed formalities for a petition against the Election Commission.
This came after Rahul Gandhi and Rajya Sabha LoP Mallikarjun Kharge had on Monday sought a meeting with CJI Surya Kant to raise allegations of “vote chori”. Rahul Gandhi is the lead petitioner in the plea against Election Commission. Other petitioners include Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav, RJD Tejashwi Yadav, TMC's Saugata Roy, Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Sanjay Raut, JMM's Mahua Majhi, CPM's MA Baby, NCP (SP)'s Supriya Sule, CPI's D Raja and IUML's ET Mohammed Basheer.
The petition seeks to raise discrepancies of voter deletions during SIR and requires the Supreme Court to summon all records concerning the decisions taken by the ECI and conduct an independent probe. It will likely be heard on Tuesday.
Why is the Election Commission in the centre of a row?
The protests in the Capital by opposition leaders and activists come amid growing criticism of the Election Commission over the SIR of electoral rolls. The controversy gained momentum after reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on at least 14 occasions over 10 months to decisions and orders, some of which they reportedly said were issued without their knowledge.
However, the poll body has maintained that the three-member poll panel took all decisions, including those related to the SIR, unanimously.