JAMMU: INDIA bloc leaders on Wednesday took out a joint ‘Save Democracy’ march in Jammu, demanding the removal and arrest of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of large-scale deletion of names from electoral rolls.
The INDIA bloc on Wednesday said its agitation against alleged “vote theft” would continue, as leaders of the Congress, National Conference (NC), PDP, CPI(M) and other parties staged a protest in Jammu and demanded accountability over the alleged deletion of voters from electoral rolls.
Congress working president Raman Bhalla, NC provincial president Jammu Rattan Lal Gupta, PDP youth vice-president Virender Singh Sonu and CPI(M) leaders led the march. The protesters carried party flags, raised slogans against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and burned Kumar’s effigy.
Bhalla alleged that Kumar had “stolen votes” at the behest of the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and demanded his immediate arrest. He also sought the dissolution of Parliament and assemblies in states where, he alleged, governments were formed after “vote theft”, followed by fresh elections.
Gupta said the INDIA bloc was protesting against what he described as “vote theft” and “chanda theft”, alleging that democracy was being undermined. He demanded that electoral rolls from which “crores of voters” had allegedly been deleted be prepared afresh to protect the constitutional right to vote.
PDP leader Sonu alleged that 13.60 crore votes had been deleted from electoral rolls and demanded that those responsible be held accountable. He said the issue had created confusion across the country and called for the facts behind the alleged deletions to be made public.
A CPI(M) leader also alleged that 13 crore votes had been “stolen”. The INDIA bloc leaders said they would continue their agitation until their demands were addressed.
(With inputs from PTI)
