NEW DELHI / KOLKATA: The India bloc is expected to go into a huddle on September 30 at the Constitution Club in Delhi to deliberate and strategise a joint programme aimed at cornering the Centre on the issue of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, amid concerns over special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The decision to hold the meeting was taken after the top leadership of INDIA bloc parties touched base on Saturday. Leader of the disputed Trinamool Mamata Banerjee spoke at length over the phone to Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and CPM general secretary MA Baby to discuss the course of action against the BJP and CEC, sources said.
Besides Rahul, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Mamata, her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, and Baby are expected to attend the meeting.
Sources said INDIA bloc leaders are likely to chalk out a roadmap for pan-India protests seeking removal of Kumar and an independent inquiry into the EC’s decisions. Discussion will focus on three core agenda items, including impeachment motion against Kumar, nationwide stir in poll-bound states including UP, Punjab and Uttarakhand.
Speaking in Sreerampur in West Bengal’s Hooghly, Mamata on Saturday said, “I sent a message to Rahul Gandhi, and told him we must sit together.”
CPI (Marxist-Lenin) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya termed the controversy as “major national crisis”, and called all Opposition parties to come together.
