‘INDIA Bloc stands united and will move forward collectively….it is not about individual decisions’: Mamata
NEW DELHI: A day after the INDIA Alliance announced a joint agitation to demand the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar over the SIR exercise, Trinamool Congress Chairperson and former West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said that for the Opposition this was a “collective” fight and shared that she had promptly responded to CPI(M) general secretary MA Baby last week when he reached out to her over the working of the Election Commission as it was a “national issue”.Reports of the interaction between Baby and Banerjee had attracted much attention last week as it saw two parties with decades-long differences in Bengal coming together on the question of the Election Commission (EC). Banerjee shared details of the interaction and the sentiment behind both sides putting aside their differences and coming together, while responding to questions at a press conference in Delhi. Party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and senior party leaders Derek O’ Brien, Dola Sen, Mahua Moitra, Menaka Guruswamy and Saket Gokhale were among those present with Mamata Banerjee at the press conference. “Our position is that when Constitutional institutions and democratic rights are at stake, political parties should examine the issue beyond their individual colours and interests,” Banerjee asserted. When asked about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the question of leadership of the opposition alliance and her view on who can be the Bloc’s PM candidate, the TMC Chairperson said, “INDIA Alliance is United and together. It is not about individual decisions. We are like a family, and we will decide collectively on these issues.” “Regional political parties have their own circumstances and compulsions, and we understand that. We maintain good relations with leaders such as Arvind Kejriwal (AAP), Nitish Kumar (JDU) and MK Stalin (DMK), while local political decisions may differ from state to state. Sometimes, INDIA’s alliance partners may not attend a particular programme because of local political considerations, but that does not necessarily mean there is disagreement on broader national issues,” she added. “We are with the INDIA alliance, and whatever decisions the alliance takes, we will respect them like a family and work together with unity. Our priority is to stand together and move forward collectively,” Banerjee said. “2029 is still far away; first, look at what is happening in 2027. “Khela toh ab hoga” — the real political game begins now. You never know what may happen in the next two, three, or six months. Politics can change very quickly, and we will continue to watch the situation, remain united and make decisions together as an alliance,” she emphasised. “It is important for Gyanesh Kumar to go…change is critical at this stage to make way for a free and fair electoral system,” Banerjee said in response to a question about whether the resignation of CEC would help resolve the systemic problems. TMC national general secretary and Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee lashed out, saying, “When questions are directed at Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar or the Election Commission, I believe the answers should come from the Election Commission itself. Instead, we repeatedly see BJP leaders responding to those questions. My point is simple: constitutional authorities must answer legitimate questions themselves and place facts before the public rather than allowing political parties to speak on their behalf.” He called for a thorough investigation to bring out the truth. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
UP: The BJP will have to fight to protect its own vote bank; Akhilesh Yadav’s new caste arithmetic will be a major test.
The BJP will have to fight to protect its own vote bank in the UP Assembly elections. Akhilesh Yadav’s new caste arithmetic will be a major test. The SP will target Brahmins, non-Jatav Dalits, and non-Yadav OBCs. This new strategy by the SP has increased the BJP’s concern. The SP’s strategy now aims to break the social alliance that has helped the BJP win election after election in Uttar Pradesh. After the success of the new caste arithmetic in the Lok Sabha elections, the SP’s strategy is to move beyond its image as a Muslim-Yadav party and give more priority to non-Yadav OBCs, non-Jatav Dalits, and Brahmin communities in ticket distribution. If this segment prioritizes caste over party, as in the Lok Sabha elections, the contest will be interesting. The BJP will face the challenge of maintaining its base vote bank and breaking through this SP’s maze. This new strategy by the SP has increased the BJP’s concern. According to a senior state leader and former state president, the party’s biggest challenge is to re-engage the non-Yadav OBCs and non-Jatav Dalits, a large portion of whom sided with the SP in the last Lok Sabha elections. This segment, which supported the BJP in the 2014, 2019, and the last two assembly elections, no longer displayed its previous commitment to the BJP in the last Lok Sabha elections. Since the SP’s ticket distribution formula for 2024 has been successful, it will not only favor the Kurmi, Nishad, Gurjar, Pal, Saini, Prajapati, and Pasi communities among Dalits to deal a blow to the BJP in the assembly elections, but will also woo Brahmins in eastern UP and Awadh. Therefore, to blunt this SP move, the BJP will have to make a major change in its strategy. What is the SP’s strategy? In the last election, the SP alliance distributed approximately 125 tickets among Muslim Yadavs. This made it easier for the BJP to woo the non-Yadav OBCs. This time, the SP plans to limit the number of tickets for Yadavs and Muslims to 80-85 seats. The plan is to field Dalit candidates in some general seats where the combination of Muslim, Yadav, and Dalit voters can create a formidable position. Furthermore, the plan is to provide bulk tickets to Brahmins among the upper castes, Kurmis and Nishads among the OBCs, and to give greater representation to Sainis, Gurjars, Rajbhars, Pals, and Prajapatis. In the Lok Sabha elections, the SP fielded only five candidates from the Yadav community and four from the Muslim community. Last Election Equation The SP alliance fielded approximately 128 Yadav-Muslim candidates, the same number of non-Yadav OBC candidates, 86 Dalits, and approximately 60 upper caste candidates. The NDA fielded approximately 135 non-Yadav OBC candidates, 15 from the Yadav community, approximately 140 from the upper castes, 85 from the Dalit community, and approximately 30 to 35 from the Vaishya community. Law and order will be a key issue for the BJP. A section within the BJP believes that as the elections approach, the contest will become Yogi versus Akhilesh. This will directly benefit the BJP. For example, in Bihar, the initial situation was against the NDA, but as the election approached, when the contest became Nitish versus Tejashwi, the NDA won a landslide victory on the issue of better law and order. In Uttar Pradesh too, there is a general public support for better law and order. Therefore, the BJP will have to find a counter to the SP’s new social equation with law and order and Hindutva. Himanshu Mishra, New Delhi Published by: Sharukh Khan Courtesy: Hindi News
Mamata seeks ‘extraordinary’ Opposition action over SIR, urges parties to set egos aside
The 20-party meeting finalised a joint action plan including rallies and ‘save democracy’ marches, while leaders backed legal action and wider mobilisation over the Election Commission. NEW DELHI: Calling for a broader Opposition mobilisation over the SIR row, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee urged INDIA bloc leaders on Wednesday to set aside their egos, saying extraordinary situations call for extraordinary action to fight the BJP and its machinations. At the meeting, as many as 20 INDIA bloc parties finalised a joint action plan, including rallies and ‘save democracy marches’. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said all parties at the meeting agreed that elections should be held through ballot papers instead of EVMs. Referring to her phone conversation with CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby last week, Banerjee stressed the need for parties to put aside their differences. “Mr Baby wrote to me, and I responded positively to him. I have been talking to other leaders also. Yesterday, I spoke to BJD’s Naveen Patnaik,” she is learnt to have told the meeting. Baby wrote to several non-NDA parties last week, seeking a coordinated response to the Election Commission row. His outreach included the BRS, AAP, DMK, BJD and TVK. Responding positively, Banerjee wrote back that the effort should be taken forward to mobilize all Opposition parties. The two subsequently spoke over the phone. Baby said they also recalled their days in Parliament, when Banerjee was in the Lok Sabha, and he was a Rajya Sabha member. At Wednesday’s meeting, Baby called for the entire Opposition to unite on the issue and involve civil society and public intellectuals committed to secular and democratic principles. Speaking towards the end of the meeting, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi urged leaders to believe in themselves, saying panic had set in within the BJP and the “system” was beginning to crumble. “The BJP is in panic mode. Don’t be under any illusion that the BJP is invincible. PM Modi and Amit Shah are aware that the system is crumbling,” Gandhi is learnt to have told the meeting. Independent Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal called for legal action alongside mass protests, sources said. He is learnt to have suggested that Opposition MPs should jointly move the Supreme Court to seek an early hearing of the pending petitions on SIR. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which have distanced themselves from the INDIA bloc, skipped the meeting but are learnt to have agreed to sign a fresh Opposition notice seeking the removal of the Chief Election Commissioner. CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby met AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday, while TMC’s Derek O’Brien met AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on Tuesday morning as Opposition leaders sought wider support for the notice. DMK leader Kanimozhi had also met TMC chief Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata on September 17. Preetha Nair Courtesy : TNIE Note: This news is originally published on https:/thenewindianexpress.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
‘Were they pressured?’ Rahul Gandhi questions who ‘ordered’ Form 6 changes
NEW DELHI: Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has questioned who authorised changes to the online Form 6 for voter registration and whether Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was pressured to implement them. “The online Form 6 was changed illegally – as the EC’s own Commissioners have recorded. Who at the ECI ordered Tata Consultancy Services to make that change? Who at TCS signed off on it? And were they pressured into doing it?” Rahul said in a post on X. The Election Commission has withdrawn the additional Special Intensive Revision (SIR)-related declaration attached to Form 6 in states where the electoral roll revision exercise has been completed, PTI reported on Wednesday. The declaration has been removed from the ECINET app and portal, as well as the respective Chief Electoral Officer portals, meaning new applicants in these states will only have to submit the regular statutory Form 6 for voter enrolment. In states and Union territories where the SIR exercise is still underway, the additional declaration remains available on the ECINET portal. Under the declaration, new applicants are required to provide details linking themselves, their parents or grandparents to electoral rolls prepared during an earlier SIR. The move follows a September 26 meeting of the full Commission, comprising Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. After the meeting, the poll panel said the declaration attached to Form 6 was meant “specifically for SIR” and that “for non-SIR period, the Forms applicable as per Rules (the Registration of Electors Rules 1960) will be used.” Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
PM Modi, Home Minister Shah have ‘destroyed’ Indian democracy: Rahul Gandhi
Says Opposition leaders ‘collective defenders’ of Constitution Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday told INDIA bloc leaders that they are the ‘collective defenders’ of the Indian Constitution and asserted that it is their ‘personal commitment’ to ensure that those who have ‘destroyed’ Indian democracy are punished. The leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha made the remarks at a joint media briefing of INDIA bloc leaders after their three-and-a-half-hour meeting attended by him and the likes of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Sonia Gandhi, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav and NCP(SP) MP Supriya Sule. “INDIA bloc meeting saw a very good discussion and the main issue was ‘vote chori’. All parties are of the opinion that the democratic system of India has been attacked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shad and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar,” Gandhi said. “We are not going to take it lying down. It is a personal commitment of all INDIA bloc leaders, we are going to ensure that people who have destroyed Indian democracy are punished. Doesn’t matter how senior they are, who they are, Indian democracy is bigger than every single person in this country,” he asserted. There was also a feeling that the opposition has been quite successful in putting across to the people of India that elections are ‘stolen’, that PM Modi and Home Minister Shah have ‘destroyed’ Indian democracy and there is a new sense of resistance, particularly among young people, that what is going on in India is wrong and needs to be stopped, Gandhi said. “It is an honour for us to work together and we are confident that, over the next few months, we will make serious changes in the country,” the former Congress chief said. Earlier, INDIA bloc finalised a joint action plan over the SIR row, including holding rallies and ‘save democracy’ marches, with Congress president Kharge asserting that all parties agreed that elections should be held through ballot papers instead of EVMs. Courtesy : The Tribune India Note: This news is originally published on https:/thetribuneindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
‘Why did Kumaraswamy’s family acquire land in NICE area?’ asks DK Shivakumar
Shivakumar said the NICE project should serve the interests of Mysuru, Mandya, Ramanagara and Channapatna and promote development in the region. BENGALURU: Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday launched a blistering attack on Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries HD Kumaraswamy over the NICE project, alleging that the latter was now raking up the issue after his own efforts to deal with the project had failed. Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Shivakumar questioned why Kumaraswamy had remained silent on the NICE project all these years if there were serious irregularities, pointing out that his father, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, had signed the NICE agreement and that Kumaraswamy himself had been CM when attempts were made to resolve issues relating to the project. “He himself tried to get it taken in the name of someone called Gandhi. He got the tender done, and the Supreme Court brought the tender matter to an end,” Shivakumar said, alleging that there had been several dealings connected with the project, including transactions in benami names. “Something went wrong in their dealings with them, and now the father and sons are doing all this,” Shivakumar thundered. Saying that Kumaraswamy was unable to tolerate the popularity of the Congress government, the CM said, “He has become very desperate… there is a big internal fight going on between him and the BJP.” Shivakumar said the NICE project should serve the interests of Mysuru, Mandya, Ramanagara and Channapatna and promote development in the region. Shivakumar also questioned the land holdings of Kumaraswamy’s family members within the NICE’s BMIC planning area. “Then why did all his brothers acquire land in it? Ask him,” he said. On Kumaraswamy’s claim that he could have resolved the NICE issue had his party won 134 seats, Shivakumar said the former CM had an opportunity to act when he was in power. “When he had power in 2007, he auctioned it and gave it to somebody else to acquire. Why couldn’t he do this through Nikhil Gandhi? There is a BJP government (at the Centre) now. Let them acquire it,” the Chief Minister said. On Kumaraswamy’s demand for stopping toll collection, Shivakumar said, “Let him go and tell Modi and stop all tolls in Bengaluru and across the country.” Shivakumar also rejected Kumaraswamy’s challenge to debate the issue on the steps of Vidhana Soudha, saying the matter could be discussed inside the Assembly. “Why settle it there? Ask him to come inside. Ask him to come inside the Assembly. Let us discuss it there. Let anyone resign as an MLC or resign from the Assembly and he come inside the Assembly and debate,” he said. ‘My properties are declared’ CM DK Shivakumar also hit back at allegations concerning his properties, saying their present market value could not be treated as evidence of wrongdoing. “Whether I have property worth Rs 1,400 crore or Rs 40 crore, it is there at today’s value. I am the son of a farmer, and I am a businessman,” Shivakumar said. He said his children also had the legal right to acquire property and conduct business. Shivakumar said all his assets had been declared before the Election Commission and other agencies. “If they want to bring some other big agency and examine it now, let them do so,” he said, questioning if KUmaraswamy is an IT officer. Referring to a site, he said former CM S Bangarappa had allotted to him. Shivakumar said he had purchased it for about Rs 99,000 and its value had now risen to around Rs 20 crore. “Did I take a bribe from anyone? No. Did I get involved in any scandal? Nothing at all. I have every right to do business. I have the capacity to make my children do business, and I have the capacity to acquire more,” Shivakumar said. ‘More stings may come’ On the alleged “AK-DK jugalbandi” narrative and the possibility of further allegations against him, Shivakumar said he expected more videos and audio recordings to surface. “Not Part One. One, two, three, four. There will be more stings, videos, audios, Artificial Intelligence and whatever else they have. I know whatever they have,” he said. On a Lokayukta complaint alleging irregularities of around Rs 444 crore in the allocation of two tenders involving minister Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah, the CM dismissed the allegations. Courtesy : TNIE Note: This news is originally published on https:/thenewindianexpress.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Rahul Gandhi backs Gen Z protests: ‘Stop punishing women for crimes against them’
NEW DELHI: Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday backed the ongoing student-led protests over women’s safety, accusing the government of responding to violence against women by restricting their movement instead of making public spaces safer. His remarks came amid renewed protests in Delhi following the alleged gangrape of a 17-year-old girl at Aastha Kunj Park in south Delhi. Hundreds of students, many of them women, have taken to the streets over the past week demanding safer public spaces, stronger policing and greater accountability. “Stop punishing women for the crimes committed against them,” Rahul Gandhi said in a post on X. — RahulGandhi (@RahulGandhi) “Across our country, women are afraid to walk the streets, afraid of being harassed, afraid of being raped. And the government’s answer: stay at home,” he said. Rahul Gandhi argued that asking women to restrict their movement amounted to victim-blaming instead of addressing the conditions that make public spaces unsafe. “This is patriarchy at work: a system that blames the victim and shields the criminal. It is time to smash it,” he said. The Congress leader said the focus should instead be on making streets safer, challenging attitudes that enable violence against women and ensuring swift punishment for offenders. “The solution is not to lock women inside. It is to make our streets safe, to confront the mindset of men who mistreat women, and to punish those who attack them, swiftly and without exception,” the Congress leader said. Protests over the Aastha Kunj case have grown across Delhi University. Students from institutions including Lady Shri Ram College, Miranda House, Gargi College and BR Ambedkar University have participated in demonstrations, raising concerns over harassment, poorly lit streets and restrictions imposed on women because of safety fears. The issue has also reached the Supreme Court. On Monday, the court questioned the Delhi government and police over recent crimes against women and girls in the national capital and sought accountability over what it described as failures in ensuring public safety. Rahul Gandhi urged more young people, particularly women from Gen Z, to join peaceful protests. “Thousands of students and young people are on the streets demanding safety for women. I urge even more young women, especially GenZ across India to come out in stronger numbers,” he said. “This government is deaf to your pain and will only listen when it’s under pressure. Peaceful protest is your democratic right, and I stand with you wholeheartedly,” he added. Creative placards and slogans such as “Abort Patriarchy”, “My favourite season is FALL of patriarchy”, “Bas bohot ho gaya” (enough is enough), and “Bade bade shehron mein aisi chhoti soch nahi chalegi” (such a narrow mindset will not work in big cities) stood out as protesters marched through the campus amid heavy police presence. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Not just CEC, PM Modi and Shah should also resign for ‘vote chori’, says CWC
NEW DELHI: Raising the stakes in the ongoing controversy over special intensive revision (SIR) of poll rolls, the Congress Working Committee on Tuesday demanded that PM Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah resign on moral grounds, accusing them of being orchestrators of ‘vote chori’ through CEC Gyanesh Kumar. CWC, chaired by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, also demanded the CEC’s resignation, a halt to the SIR process, and restoration of over 13 crore voters deleted from the rolls.The meeting saw LoP Rahul Gandhi take the lead in arguing that the country now believes what the party and he had been saying for over two years: that the electoral rolls and EVMs were compromised by EC. He lamented that there were “non-believers” in Congress even when evidence was given about “vote chori”. Referring to a meeting involving him, PM Modi and Shah, Rahul said the PM told him that after they lose, the Congress government will come in. Rahul had questioned how some appointments were being made despite his opposition, to which the PM had said Indira Gandhi also did that. Rahul said he had replied that Indira was voted out, after which PM Modi made the remark that Congress would follow BJP to office. Sources described the remark’s context as Rahul’s bid to rally non-believers within by mentioning that even the “BJP mascot” believes Congress will come to office. Rahul is learnt to have said the “big fishes” (PM Modi and Shah) know they are going to lose in future. He said that while there are questions about the 2014 and 2019 elections, the 2024 LS polls were unambiguously “match-fixed”, and termed PM Modi as the “illegal PM”. He repeatedly stressed “resistance” against the government. Putting Rahul’s imprimatur on exposing “vote chori”, the CWC resolution, read to the media by KC Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh, noted, “what began as one man’s solitary warning is now a national demand for transparency and accountability”. CWC stopped short of deciding an action plan, leaving it to the INDIA bloc, which will meet Wednesday. CWC meeting was attended by Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Sachin Pilot, Shashi Tharoor, Abhishek Singhvi, Manish Tewari, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Jitendra Singh, Prakash Joshi, CMs DK Shivakumar, Sukhwinder Sukhu, VD Satheesan, and Revanth Reddy, among others. Many CWC members and the four CMs are learnt to have argued that agitation in Delhi is important to having an impact. Kharge said, “Like in British times, Congress again has to shoulder the responsibility… we snatched the right to vote from the British and now fight to save that right.” When Tharoor said the party should support the CJP agitation called on Oct 2, Kharge caustically asked the Keralam MP if he would be seen only in newspapers and on TV, or would join the street battle against the EC. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
‘Gyanesh Chor’: Congress steps up protests across country, demands CEC’s removal
The developments come amid an intensifying confrontation between the Congress and the Election Commission over the functioning of the poll panel, including SIR. The Congress on Monday took to the streets against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, holding protests across the country and burning his effigies amid the SIR row, and said the groundswell against him will only increase till he is removed. Congress workers protested outside CEC Kumar’s residence in Agra and raised slogans while defacing the main gate and a wall of the house with spray paint. They put up stickers and pasted pamphlets outside his Vijay Nagar home and wrote “Gyanesh Gaddar Gyanesh Chor” — calling the CEC a “traitor” and a “thief” — in Hindi. Police used water cannons to disperse the protesters who tried to scale barricades at many places, including Jaipur and Bhopal. The protests came as opposition parties, which have been critical of CEC Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, called for his immediate removal after it came to light that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over a 10-month period to decisions and orders, some of which they said were issued without their knowledge. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said the party will deliberate on further strategy on the issue on Tuesday when its top decision-making body – the Congress Working Committee – will meet here. “We are going to fight this seriously. This issue concerns the entire country, the existence of our democracy and the survival of our country… The Election Commission’s own people have exposed them…. he is propagating the BJP’s philosophy and has become a BJP worker,” he claimed. The opposition INDIA bloc is also likely to meet on September 30, where they will discuss their future strategy for the CEC’s ouster and sign and file another notice for his removal in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. “The Congress has protested in 1000+ districts today. Mr. Gyanesh, this is just the beginning. The groundswell will only grow from hereon. My advice to Modi-Shah, sack Gyanesh before the streets are filled with people rejecting your Vote Chori shenanigans,” AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said on X. Delhi Congress workers gathered at the party office on Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg and tried to march to Nirvachan Sadan, but police stopped them by erecting barricades. The Indian Youth Congress also organised a protest in Delhi and its members were stopped by the police at the IYC office from marching to the Election Commission office. Some protesters wore masks of Kumar and had their hands bound in metal chains, symbolising their claim that “the CEC was acting in BJP’s interests and the EC’s hands were tied”. “In Agra, Congress workers blackened with soot the house of ‘Gaddar Gyanesh’. The way Modi and Shah, in collusion with Gyanesh, have looted elections across different parts of the country over the past several years is directly an act of treason against the country. We will ensure that Gyanesh is punished,” the IYC said on X. A Congress worker wears a mask of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and poses with chained hands during a protest against the CEC in Jammu on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. Kumar, a 1988-batch Indian Administrative Service officer of Kerala cadre, was appointed election commissioner to the poll panel on March 15, 2024, after retiring from service on January 31, 2024. He assumed charge as the 26th CEC on February 19 last year. The developments come amid an intensifying confrontation between the Congress and the Election Commission over the functioning of the poll panel, including SIR, with party leader Rahul Gandhi accusing CEC Kumar of “treason” and asking him to turn an approver for “vote chori”. “Gyanesh Kumar will go. But the system that made him do this will also have to answer,” he said in a post on X. The Congress also held protests at several places in Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar, Telangana, Karnataka, Gujarat, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Goa, among others, accusing the CEC of acting in favour of the BJP. Congress’ Haryana unit held demonstrations and marches across the state, demanding a comprehensive review of all election-related decisions taken during Kumar’s tenure and the alleged changes made in the electoral rolls post SIR. Senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the party’s Haryana affairs in-charge Sanjay Dutt, state party chief Rao Narender Singh, former Union minister Birender Singh, and MLAs and MPs took part in the protest, where Kumar’s effigy was burnt. Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, Congress’ Rajasthan in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and state party chief Govind Singh Dotasra were among senior party leaders detained by police during a protest march to the State Election Commission office in Jaipur over alleged vote theft and irregularities in SIR. Soon after the march began at Shaheed Smarak, the protesters came across multiple layers of barricades. When they tried to push through the barricades, police used water cannons to disperse them. Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring led a protest in Ferozepur, accusing CEC Kumar of “subverting and sabotaging” democracy in the country. The protesters also burnt effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the CEC. Warring alleged that Kumar had “subverted and sabotaged” the electoral process and claimed that 13.8 crore voters had been “single-handedly disenfranchised” through deletion from electoral rolls. The Congress held protests at district headquarters in Srinagar, with the party’s Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Khera leading a demonstration at the Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters. “We will keep fighting until he resigns, because in this country, elections will not be possible if such people remain,” Khera said. Maharashtra Congress also organised protests across the state and submitted memoranda to district collectors seeking action against Kumar. Party workers held a dharna in Mumbai and other districts, including Pune, Kolhapur, Solapur, Nashik, Nagpur, Amravati, Thane, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Chandrapur, Nanded, Latur, Beed, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Raigad, Dharashiv,
Congress to begin Bharat Jodo-2 in Karnataka tomorrow
Hariprasad said the padayatra will start at 1 pm and conclude with a rally in the constituency in the evening. BENGALURU/SHIVAMOGGA: State Congress President BK Hariprasad on Monday said the Congress will launch ‘Bharat Jodo-2’ in Karnataka from September 30. The campaign will start from Shikaripura, Shivamogga district, and cover 84 assembly segments where the Congress lost in the 2023 Assembly polls. On September 30, 2022, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra had entered Karnataka. Speaking to the media in Bengaluru, Hariprasad said the padayatra will start at 1 pm and conclude with a rally in the constituency in the evening. Congress workers and leaders from across districts will take part in the padayatra, during which they will discuss drought and other issues with the people, and also create awareness about alleged wrongdoings by the Chief Election Commissioner, he said. Shivamogga district minister Madhu S Bangarappa told reporters that a massive convention will be organised in Shikaripura on September 30 to commemorate the Bharat Jodo Yatra undertaken by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi four years ago. It will start at Kittadandi village at 10am, and the march will pass through Kote, Hosanagara, Mattikote, Hosanagara Cross and Nelavodlu village, before culminating at the APMC Yard in Shikaripura. Responding to a question, the minister asserted that he was committed to ensuring the defeat of Shikaripura MLA and state BJP president BY Vijayendra in the next Assembly election. He alleged that Vijayendra had secured victory by a narrow margin. “Our target is to defeat Vijayendra in Shikaripura in the next Assembly elections. Vijayendra is preparing to launch a padayatra. Let him do so, but not against the Congress. Instead, he should undertake a padayatra against corruption, for which his father BS Yediyurappa was the architect,” Madhu Bangarappa said. Courtesy : TNIE Note: This news is originally published on https:/thenewindianexpress.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights