Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) President Manickam Tagore on Saturday said the Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has joined the INDIA bloc, describing the development as a “historic day”.
TVK leaders Aadhav Arjuna and Maria Wilson attended an INDIA bloc meeting held under Tagore's leadership at the TNCC office in Chennai, with the participating parties demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
The parties that took part in the meeting were Congress, TVK, CPM, CPI, VCK, MDMK and IUML.
Speaking to reporters, Tagore said, "...Vijay-led TVK has joined the INDIA alliance. It's a very historic day for the INDIA alliance. The INDIA alliance, particularly in Tamil Nadu, is to be strengthened by the entry of TVK. This shows that the fight against the RSS-BJP, particularly Modi and Amit Shah's misrule, is going to be interesting in Tamil Nadu also."
The meeting comes days after top opposition leaders of the INDIA bloc gathered at the Constitution Club on September 30 to discuss alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, concerns over electronic voting machines (EVMs), and a demand for the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar.
Tagore said that the INDIA bloc parties in Tamil Nadu have decided to hold district-level demonstrations demanding CEC's resignation on October 13 and 14, with a joint protest planned in Chennai on October 15.
"We have decided to have the district-level demonstrations against CEC Gyanesh Kumar. We demand his resignation... In all the district headquarters, the INDIA alliance parties will have demonstrations. We will release the list of those leaders who will be participating. On 15th October, we will have the Chennai district-level demonstration where all 7 parties of the INDIA alliance will be part of it,” he added.
MDMK General Secretary Vaiko said the INDIA alliance appreciated the participation of TVK and its leader C Joseph Vijay, while announcing state-wide rallies on October 13, 14 and 15.
"... We have decided to conduct rallies, condemning the decision of the Chief Election Commissioner, at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, to condemn the Chief Election Commissioner. He should be expelled from that post. This is the demand. On the 13th, 14th, and 15th, throughout the state, those meetings (rallies), condemnation rallies, will take place. In Chennai, that will take place on October 15th,” Vaiko said.
The INDIA bloc's latest meeting follows a report by The Indian Express that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months regarding decisions and procedures related to the SIR exercise and other electoral matters.
(With inputs from ANI)