NEW DELHI: The Congress will hold a major rally at Ramlila Maidan in the national capital on Sunday, stepping up its campaign over alleged “vote chori” and the SIR issue, party leaders said. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi are expected to address the rally. Ahead of the rally, senior leaders will assemble at the party’s Indira Bhawan headquarters and proceed together to Ramlila Maidan in a bus.The rally comes days after a fiery debate in the Lok Sabha, during which the government and the Opposition clashed over the special intensive revision of electoral rolls and “vote chori” allegations.
Senior party leaders to attend the rally
Senior leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, K C Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh and Sachin Pilot, are also set to participate, while former Congress president Sonia Gandhi is also likely to be present.“Our party has organised the ‘Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod’ rally at Ramlila Maidan. The Congress party has taken a step towards a decisive battle, and a large number of people will attend this rally,” Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel was quoted as saying by ANI.Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy is also expected to attend the rally.According to a party spokesperson, 1,027 Congress leaders and activists set out from Jammu on Saturday to attend the rally. The group raised slogans of “vote chore, gaddi chhore” and “Delhi chalo” while en route, as cited by PTI. Jharkhand Congress president Keshav Mahto Kamlesh said the Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee has undertaken extensive preparations for the rally. Describing the programme as historic, Kamlesh added that party leaders, workers and representatives from across Jharkhand have already arrived in Delhi in large numbers.
‘Lacking a neutral umpire,’ says K C Venugopal
Congress MP K C Venugopal on Saturday criticised the Election Commission of India, saying the country was “lacking a neutral umpire” to conduct elections. He also referred to earlier press conferences addressed by the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, which highlighted alleged electoral malpractices.“We are lacking a neutral umpire in this country for conducting elections. This is actually very dangerous to democracy. That is why we are going completely for a campaign and movement. The five-crore signature has to be submitted to the President of India. We are seeking an appointment… In Parliament, we also discussed this vote chori issue. Our LoP has given straightforward suggestions. Not only criticising, but we are also providing clear suggestions...There are a lot of complaints about the machines, the EVMs. Lakhs of people will participate in that… This is an internal party program,” Venugopal was quoted as saying by ANI. Venugopal said the Congress has gathered over five crore signatures nationwide to highlight alleged vote theft, calling it a core democratic issue. He alleged the presence of “bogus” and duplicate votes, claimed that Rahul Gandhi’s press conferences exposed irregularities favouring the BJP, and said the Election Commission ignored the party’s complaint while instead targeting the Congress.
Amit Shah vs Rahul Gandhi
Tensions flared in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday as Union home minister Amit Shah and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi sparred over allegations of “vote chori.” Gandhi repeatedly challenged Shah to debate the issues raised during recent press conferences, including claims of irregularities in electoral rolls.Moreover, Rahul launched a sharp attack on the government and the Election Commission, raising three questions that he said demonstrated how the BJP was “directing and using” the EC to undermine India’s democracy.Rahul also put forward a series of proposals, including providing machine-readable voter lists to all political parties a month before elections, scrapping the provision that allows CCTV footage to be destroyed after 45 days, granting access to EVMs, and amending laws that, he alleged, allow election commissioners to “get away with whatever they want to do.”Responding sharply, Shah said Parliament would not function according to Rahull’s wishes and asserted that he would address the questions in his own sequence. He defended the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists, describing it as a necessary exercise to “sanitise” the electoral rolls.Accusing the Opposition of double standards, Shah said the Election Commission was praised after electoral victories but criticised after defeats. The exchange ended with Opposition MPs staging a walkout during Shah’s reply, forcing an adjournment of the House.
