Following a massive rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, the opposition INDIA bloc is all set to intensify its campaign against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, taking its protest to Bengaluru on November 5. The leaders on Tuesday announced a protest at Freedom Park on November 5 against the SIR of electoral rolls and CEC Gyanesh Kumar.
Addressing a press conference at the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) office, state Congress chief B K Hariprasad said the protest in Bengaluru would be part of the INDIA bloc’s nationwide agitation against the SIR exercise and its demand for the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner.
“The November 5 protest at Freedom Park is a continuation of the agitation organised by the INDIA bloc at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi on November 1 against the Special Intensive Revision process and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar,” Hariprasad said, as quoted by PTI.
“In Karnataka, we have decided to begin with a state-level protest in Bengaluru, followed by demonstrations at the district and taluk levels,” he said.
“The fight will continue until the CEC steps down. After the state-level protest, we will take the agitation to the district and taluk levels,” he added.
CPI(M) state secretary K Prakash said the INDIA bloc was demanding the scrapping of the SIR exercise, the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar and democratisation of the process of appointing the Chief Election Commissioner.
“Our demands include scrapping the SIR exercise, ensuring the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar and making the appointment process of the CEC democratic. The selection process should be conducted in accordance with the directions of the Supreme Court,” he said.
INDIA Bloc Ups The Ante Against CEC, EC
The INDIA bloc on Saturday held a symbolic “public impeachment” of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that the right to vote was under threat as the poll panel was functioning at the behest of the Modi government. On Sunday, the opposition grouping held a mammoth rally at Ramlila Maidan against alleged electoral irregularities and voter list revision.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, TMC’s Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee, CPI(M)’s MA Baby, CPI’s D Raja, CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, JKNC’s Farooq Abdullah, PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti, among others, attended the rally.