The Congress leadership on Saturday held meetings with heads of its frontal organisations and Delhi unit leaders to review preparations for the INDIA bloc rally and march scheduled for November 1 at Ramlila Maidan, aiming to make it the opposition's biggest-ever mobilisation against alleged “vote chori”.
The meetings came a day after the party leadership held discussions with its leaders from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana as it mobilises its rank and file to ensure a large turnout at the rally.
The Congress plans to make the November 1 gathering a major show of strength, demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal met the heads of the party's frontal organisations at the AICC headquarters, Indira Bhawan, in the morning. He later held a meeting with office-bearers of the Delhi Congress, attended by AICC treasurer Ajay Maken.
“We continued our meetings to take stock of preparations for the INDIA Bloc Mega Rally against Vote Chori on November 1st, as we met with Chairpersons and In-charges of various frontals and departments at Indira Bhavan today,” Venugopal said in a post on X.
In another post, he said he had met the AICC in-charge, the Pradesh Congress Committee president and senior Delhi leaders, along with Maken, to discuss preparations for the rally.
Mahila Congress president Alka Lamba said the rally would be the biggest mobilisation by the Opposition, with the party setting a target of 10 lakh participants. She ruled out postponing the event, despite suggestions to that effect from some quarters.
Venugopal said the rally at Ramlila Maidan would mark the culmination of the massive ‘Delhi Chalo March’, which is scheduled to reach the national capital on November 1.
People from across the country would attend the gathering to convey the message that the INDIA bloc was united in protecting democracy and “driving these vote chors out of power”, he said.
The rally is part of a series of Opposition protests against the SIR and alleged irregularities in the electoral process. The Congress has accused the authorities of deleting lakhs of names from electoral rolls and has demanded Kumar's resignation.
On October 12, the Opposition's campaign against alleged “vote theft” reached the Supreme Court, where opposition leaders, activists and civil society members participated in a ‘March for Democracy’ along a heavily barricaded route and filed a joint petition challenging the SIR.
(With inputs from PTI)
