Pathanamthitta (Keralam) [India], October 2 (ANI): Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal on Friday said the party and the INDIA bloc leaders were ready to face arrest, alleging that the votes of common people were being “snatched” through the Election Commission of India.
Speaking on the protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, he said that this is a “do-or-die” fight for the Congress.
“This is for saving the democracy of the country, saving the vote for a common man. Common men’s votes are snatched by Modi and Shah through the Election Commission of India. So, this is a do-or-die fight for the Congress party and the INDIA alliance and all other opposition parties. We are not going to allow this thing,” Venugopal said.
Amid several leaders being detained during the protest, Venugopal said that they are prepared to go to jail.
“Today’s arrest? Yes. In the coming days, more arrests will happen. We are ready to go to jail to save democracy. And their leaders will go to jail. We are ready. Let them prepare all the jails to fill us,” he said.
Activists of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) and other civil society organisations staged a protest at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park against the Election Commission and alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, while members of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), along with opposition leaders, staged protests near Jantar Mantar in Delhi, demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj was among the leaders detained by Delhi Police soon after reaching Jantar Mantar and joining the protest.
The protests come amid continuing opposition-led and civil society demonstrations over the functioning of the Election Commission and the SIR exercise.
The opposition movement against the Chief Election Commissioner is set to continue, with the INDIA bloc planning a series of protests, including a programme on October 6 and a rally in Delhi on November 1.
Earlier on Wednesday, Venugopal said that the parties of the INDIA bloc, who held a meeting on Wednesday, have sought removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar and the use of pre-SIR electoral rolls for all future elections.
He accused Gyanesh Kumar of rigging elections and “handing states on a platter to the BJP”.Venugopal said in a post on X that the INDIA bloc is united “against vote chori”.
“Election after election, Gyanesh Kumar rigged elections and handed states on a platter to the BJP. Just as the Congress has resolved to take our fight to the finish against Gyanesh Kumar, so is the INDIA bloc determined to make this a nationwide mass movement to protect our democracy,” he said.
“Our non-negotiable demands are: Gyanesh Kumar’s immediate removal, use of pre-SIR electoral rolls for all future elections, use of ballot papers and not EVMs and an effective appeals mechanism for all those excluded from the voter rolls, besides protection for genuine voters from exclusion due to technical/administrative reasons,” he added. (ANI)
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