Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi has invited INDIA bloc MPs for a high tea at his residence on Tuesday, sources said.
The meeting is expected to focus on a joint strategy for protests against alleged “vote chori” (vote theft) and to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. A protest or joint press conference may also follow the meeting, though the details have not been finalised, the sources said.
The high tea, at Gandhi's 5, Sunehri Bagh Road residence, would take place a day after the raging protests over vote theft charge reached the Supreme Court's doorstep. Opposition stalwarts, joined by activists and civil society members, undertook a "March for Democracy" on a heavily barricaded route and filed a joint petition against SIR and alleged poll irregularities, in a major show of strength in the national capital.
A mammoth crowd carrying flags and posters descended on central Delhi's Connaught Place, with Leaders of Opposition (LoPs) in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, CPI's D Raja, CPI-M leader M A Baby, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, besides NCP-SCP leader Supriya Sule, among those who joined the march.
While the protesters breached one barricade at the Bhagwan Dass Road, they were finally halted at the second barricade on the road. Later, top leaders of the INDIA bloc went to the Supreme Court to file their petition.
The petition has made the Election Commission of India, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and other Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi parties in the case.
The development came a day after the Chief Justice of India declined a request to meet with the LoPs on the issue, saying the matter is sub judice.
(With inputs from PTI )