NEW DELHI: “We will not stop till Gyanesh Kumar resigns,” was the recurring message that echoed on the route from Connaught Place to Rajghat on Thursday as the opposition stepped up its agitation against the Chief Election Commissioner.
Members of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) and the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) had also joined the Congress leaders. For several supporters, the repeated police action over the past two days had only strengthened their resolve to remain on the streets.
“We will continue to fight. They can stop our buses, detain our leaders or put up barricades, but they cannot stop us from raising our voices,” a Youth Congress member said.
Another protester said that the issue was not restricted to a political party or its leaders but every voter. “This is about our vote. If there are questions over the electoral rolls, there have to be answers. We will keep coming out until there is accountability,” he said.
Young members said they were prepared for a long haul. “We cannot remain silent when questions are being raised about the electoral process. This fight is not going to end in one or two days,” an NSUI member said.
The sentiment echoed the position taken by the Congress and its India bloc allies, who have maintained that the agitation will continue until Kumar resigns. Outside Rajghat, members of Mahila Congress who had come from Haryana said, “We will stop protesting from tomorrow if Gyanesh Kumar resigns today, but the protest continue till he resigns.”
For the protesters accompanying the buses, the significance of Thursday’s demonstration lay in sustaining the momentum after two days of confrontations and detentions. As the buses reached Rajghat, the message remained unchanged—the protest, they said, was not a one-day mobilisation but a continued fight over what they described as the sanctity of every vote and credibility of the electoral process.
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