INDIA bloc plans nationwide protests against SIR, demands return of ballot papers

NEW DELHI: The INDIA bloc is preparing for nationwide protests against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and the Election Commission. A meeting of 20 parties demanded the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and called for the scrapping of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and the return of ballot papers.

The parties also demanded that the voter lists used before the SIR be retained for all future elections. They called for an opportunity to include voters who have been left out of the electoral rolls and demanded protection for genuine voters from arbitrary deletions.

The meeting was held at Delhi’s Constitution Club and lasted three-and-a-half hours. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee, among other leaders, later addressed a joint press conference and explained the decisions taken at the meeting. Uddhav Thackeray of Shiv Sena (UBT) and Hemant Soren of the JMM participated online.

AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal, CPM general secretary M.A. Baby, CPM Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas, CPI leader P. Santhosh Kumar, Jose K. Mani, N.K. Premachandran, Francis George, Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal, Haris Beeran and G. Devarajan were among those who attended the meeting.

Mega rally in Delhi on November 1

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the meeting took six major decisions:

1. Save Democracy marches will be held towards district magistrate offices from October 2 to 8 to explain the reasons behind the protests to the public.
2. Opposition MPs will march to the Election Commission office on October 6.
3. Opposition leaders will meet the President in the second week of October.
4. Five major rallies will be organised to demonstrate the unity of the INDIA bloc.
5. A mega rally will be held in Delhi on November 1 to raise issues related to alleged “vote theft”.
6. The INDIA bloc will approach the Supreme Court again over the SIR and seek the speedy disposal of all related cases.

“We will not allow the game played by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah to turn the Election Commission into a puppet to win elections through vote theft. This is the Opposition’s effort to protect democracy. Apart from political parties, voluntary organisations will also join the protests,” Mallikarjun Kharge said.