New Delhi is set for a political showdown today as the Opposition INDIA bloc holds a rally at Ramlila Maidan demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, while the BJP stages a march in West Delhi to commemorate the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
The INDIA bloc’s ‘Chalo Delhi Ramlila March’ will begin at 11 am, with Opposition MPs assembling at the Constitution Club before proceeding towards Ramlila Maidan from the Minto Road-Connaught Place junction at noon.
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Abhishek Banerjee, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Tejashwi Yadav and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav are among those expected to attend.
The rally is aimed at intensifying the Opposition's campaign against alleged irregularities in electoral rolls and seeking Kumar's resignation over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
In a parallel mobilisation, the BJP will hold a march from Hari Nagar Bus Depot to Tilak Nagar Metro Station in West Delhi, beginning at 11.30 am.
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Delhi BJP president, Minister of State Harsh Malhotra, Sardar H S Phoolka, BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa and MP Bansuri Swaraj are expected to lead the march, along with members of the Sikh community.
Earlier, at 10.30 am, BJP MP Vikramjit Singh Sahney will address the media alongside victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots at Gurdwara Shaheed Ganj Sahib. The BJP has accused the Congress of organising a political rally on a day associated with the 1984 violence and is seeking to highlight the alleged role of Congress leaders in the riots.
Security arrangements have been made around Ramlila Maidan, where preparations for the Opposition rally are under way.
The INDIA bloc's mobilisation follows its public impeachment programme against Kumar, held in the national capital on October 31.
At a mock Parliament organised by the Opposition, Kharge moved a resolution listing six charges against the CEC, including conspiring to influence elections, deleting 13.2 crore voters from electoral rolls, altering Form 6 without parliamentary oversight and centralising control of electoral rolls through ECINET.
The Opposition also accused Kumar of excluding the other two Election Commissioners from key decisions and acting at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Rahul Gandhi warned that the Opposition would not allow the CEC to "escape", while BJP leaders dismissed the exercise as "melodrama" and defended the constitutional protections available to the country's top constitutional authorities.
Opposition leaders said the public programme was organised after their attempts to raise concerns over the Election Commission in Parliament did not yield results.
The November 1 rally was announced by Congress general secretary K C Venugopal on October 5, amid the Opposition's continuing campaign against the SIR exercise and alleged electoral roll irregularities.
(With inputs from PTI)