Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said students had exercised their constitutional right by protesting peacefully against what they termed “vote chori”, asserting that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar would go and “the system that put him there” would also go.
In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said thousands of young people had taken to the streets on Gandhi Jayanti to protest against “vote chori” without violence.
“Their demand is clear: Gyanesh Kumar must resign. Save democracy. And the Modi-Shah government’s response? Boys and girls are being dragged off the streets. Hundreds are in custody. Their only crime is that they dared to question vote theft,” the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.
Gandhi said the protests reflected Mahatma Gandhi’s approach of speaking the truth and fighting peacefully.
“Bapu taught us exactly this - speak the truth, fight peacefully. And that’s what scares this government the most,” he said.
“Because a lathi can stop a crowd, but not a question,” Gandhi added.
“Gyanesh Kumar will go. And the system that put him there will go too,” he said.
His remarks came as opposition parties and student organisations took to the streets in Delhi and Mumbai demanding Kumar’s resignation, with more than 700 protesters detained in the national capital.
The protests were part of a wider mobilisation by political parties, student organisations and youth groups demanding Kumar’s resignation and raising concerns over the electoral-roll revision exercise.
Protests were also held in several other parts of the country, including Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Patna.
(With inputs from PTI)