Opposition leaders led by Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge marched towards the Supreme Court on Monday, joined by hundreds of supporters and activists, in a show of strength against alleged electoral irregularities and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The ‘March for Democracy’ saw leaders of several INDIA bloc parties take to the streets amid heavy police deployment and barricades along the route. The protesters raised slogans against the government and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging large-scale voter deletions and vowing to fight what they termed ‘vote chori’.
When police stopped the procession at Bhagwan Dass Road, several leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Akhilesh Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav, climbed atop a vehicle as the marchers crossed the barricades and moved forward.
Among those who joined the march were Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, CPI general secretary D Raja, CPI(M) leader M A Baby and NCP(SP) leader Supriya Sule. Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy were also present.
Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Shashi Tharoor, Sachin Pilot and Mukul Wasnik, along with Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, CPI(ML) leader Dipankar Bhattacharya, IUML leader E T Mohammed Basheer and activist Yogendra Yadav, joined the demonstration.
The march followed the Supreme Court's refusal to grant a meeting to Rahul Gandhi and Kharge, with Chief Justice of India Surya Kant citing the pendency of similar matters before the court.
The Opposition subsequently filed a joint petition in the apex court challenging alleged large-scale voter deletions and irregularities in the SIR exercise.
The leaders had sought a meeting with the CJI to submit a memorandum demanding an end to alleged electoral malpractice, Kumar's resignation, a halt to the SIR exercise and a return to paper ballots.
The march began after INDIA bloc leaders and supporters assembled at the Constitution Club before moving to the Barakhamba Road junction in air-conditioned buses. From there, they proceeded towards the Supreme Court, with Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra leading the protesters alongside AISA chief Neha Bora.
The demonstration is part of a series of Opposition protests against alleged ‘vote chori’. Last week, INDIA bloc leaders marched from Parliament towards the Election Commission but were stopped by police, following which Rahul Gandhi staged an eight-hour sit-in at the Akashvani Bhawan complex. Subsequent attempts to protest at Jantar Mantar were also stopped, and Opposition leaders later marched to Rajghat.
The Opposition's campaign has intensified amid reports of differences within the Election Commission, with Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi reportedly recording objections at least 14 times over the past 10 months, including on the SIR exercise.
(With inputs from PTI)