Image source, @INCIndia
On Sunday, at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan, Rahul Gandhi said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah will have to face legal action on charges of 'vote theft'.
He said that first action will be taken against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and then Narendra Modi and Amit Shah will come.
Leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi said that the India alliance "will not allow democracy to end" in the country. Removing Gyanesh Kumar from the post is the 'first step towards bringing the country on the right path'.
Rahul Gandhi said, "Amit Shah ji said that 'Narendra Modi is not going anywhere.' Let me tell you the opposite – Narendra Modi cannot go anywhere. Even if they want to go, we will not let them go.
“Narendra Modi, Amit Shah ji, please understand. After Gyanesh Kumar, we are going to stand in front of you. Don't forget that you have stolen votes, you will not go anywhere. Legal action will be taken against you, against Narendra Modi, against Amit Shah."
India Block, an alliance of opposition parties, held a big rally on Sunday at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi. Rahul Gandhi said these things in this rally.
In the rally, opposition leaders fiercely attacked the Central Government and the Election Commission.
The Congress-led India Alliance had organized a rally on Sunday at Ramlila Maidan against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists. Leaders of major opposition parties participated in it.
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Congress party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Sonia Gandhi, including former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, two former Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti also participated in the rally.
Image source, ANI
Leaders of left parties also participated in the rally. In the rally, Akhilesh Yadav, Mamata Banerjee, CPIML General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya and former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Tejashwi Yadav also fiercely attacked the government.
Meanwhile, BJP also marched against Congress in many states. In Delhi, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Union Minister Hardeep Puri and other BJP leaders took part in the protest against the 1984 Sikh riots.
At the same time, party president Nitin Naveen participated in the 'Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy' march of Bharatiya Janata Party in Rohtak, Haryana.
Nitin Naveen alleged that Rahul Gandhi's monarchy is running in the Congress party.
What did Rahul Gandhi say
Accusing the Modi government of vote theft in the rally, Rahul Gandhi said, "Vote theft has been happening in this country for many years. In West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and the Lok Sabha elections of 2024, votes have been stolen in all these elections. Vote theft has happened with EVMs, by deleting people's names from the voter list, by adding names of many people."
Rahul Gandhi said that after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, more than 13 crore voters were removed from the voter list.
Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav and former CM of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee alleged that cutting off the names of voters led to their defeat in the assembly elections.
Rahul Gandhi said, "The first step to bring the country on the right path is to remove Gyanesh Kumar. Amit Shah says that Narendra Modi is not going anywhere. I want to say that you and Narendra Modi will not be allowed to go anywhere."
Rahul Gandhi said, "You must have heard about Shiva's procession. Anyone can participate in it. Anyone can dance in that Tandav. We want an India where anyone can go."
"If a farmer works hard, he should get a chance to fulfill his dream. If a student studies for 18 hours, he should be rewarded for it. We do not want a country of a few people."
Accusing the Narendra Modi government of 'vote theft', Rahul Gandhi said, "This is not ordinary theft. Ordinary theft happens when someone steals something from a shop. This is theft of every person's voice. This is called treason. Without Gyanesh Kumar, Narendra Modi would not have become Prime Minister and Amit Shah would not have become Home Minister."
Rahul Gandhi said in his address, "The voice of the people is saying, 'We will not let democracy end in the country'. You may consider yourself big, you may have money, but you are not bigger than the Constitution. The Constitution is bigger than you."
'Mahabharata in Ramlila Maidan'
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Tejashwi Yadav, who reached the rally, said, "Although Ramayana is organized at Ramlila Maidan, but we have organized 'Mahabharata' here for vote thieves."
He linked the alleged irregularities in the election process in India to Shakuni of the Mahabharata story and alleged, "You all know what game Shakuni played. Who Shakuni was and what his dice were. When Shakuni is playing his game then we will have to fight the battle of Mahabharata."
"When Shakuni threw the dice, the dice did what Shakuni said. That means there was foul play, there was no level playing field."
Tejashwi Yadav said that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar should be sent to jail so that in future no one can dare to crush the democracy of the country.
'Haldighati for democracy'
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Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who reached the rally, alleged, "Who in the country does not know that they have looted the elections of West Bengal. No one can forget those pictures of the Bengal elections, where votes were cut from SIR before the elections by deploying lakhs of troops. We have caught their theft. We are not going to accept defeat."
Akhilesh Yadav alleged that BJP only wants its supporters to be citizens and voters of India.
Akhilesh Yadav said, "Today Ramlila Maidan has become Haldighati of democracy. Those who came to UP will go out of UP. If the people of UP give a good welcome, they also give a good farewell."
Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, "Bengal has become a victim of the situation created by SIR. We will not leave. We will fight. They have looted Bengal, we will save democracy from Delhi. Will bring democracy back."
Mamata Banerjee alleged that more than one crore votes were removed in West Bengal before the elections and she was not defeated in the elections but was defeated.
CPIML general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said, "Ever since these people started SIR in Bihar, the entire country has seen and suffered it. Now the entire country has understood that SIR is a means to snatch the votes of the common people."
"This is a surgical strike by the government against democracy. Ever since the movement against SIR started, these people have banned Jantar Mantar. It seems that Delhi is no longer the capital of any democratic country. There is a police state running in this country, a military rule is running."
What did BJP say?
Meanwhile, after the India Alliance rally at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan, BJP has cornered the opposition by holding a press conference.
BJP MP Sambit Patra raised questions on the claim of gathering of one million people in the rally.
Questioning the opposition, Sambit Patra said, "Where were the ten lakh people? Show us. No one becomes a leader or Prime Minister through such maneuvers. Despite bringing together so many parties and flags, they could not mobilize even ten lakh people."
Explaining the meaning of the word 'PM', BJP MP Sambit Patra said, "PM does not just mean Prime Minister. In this, 'P' means sweat and 'M' means hard work. Any Prime Minister is made only through sweat and hard work."
What are the allegations of opposition parties?
Image source, Arun SANKAR / AFP via Getty Images
Earlier on Saturday, the India Alliance passed a resolution of 'public impeachment' against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in Delhi.
In a 'mock parliament' at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the proposal to remove Gyanesh Kumar from the post of Chief Election Commissioner was passed unanimously.
Rahul Gandhi said that Gyanesh and his co-conspirators have committed 'treason' and action will definitely be taken against them for this.
After this, on Sunday, the India Alliance held a rally at Ramlila Maidan against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list.
Congress leader Salman Khurshid said, "Our protest will not be limited to just one rally. Let's see what happens next."
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had appealed to people including students and civil society groups to attend the meeting.
Rahul Gandhi also appealed to the protesters to join the rally and support local shopkeepers by shopping during the festive season.
The Indian Youth Congress had said that people attending the rally would wear white clothes and look like "ghosts".
Its purpose is to symbolically protest against those voters who have allegedly been declared dead or whose names have been removed from the voter list.
Published by Collective Newsroom for the BBC.
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