Opposition's March To EC: Rahul Gandhi, Other Protesting MPs Detained By Delhi Police

Opposition MPs, including Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Sharad Pawar, took out a march from Parliament House to the Election Commission headquarters here on Monday to protest against the voter roll revision in Bihar. However, they were stopped by police midway at Transport Bhawan.

As the MPs were stopped by the police from moving forward, several of them sat on the road and raised slogans in protest of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and 'vote chori' charges. They held posters and raised slogans, demanding a rollback of the SIR. Wearing white caps with a red cross on the words 'SIR' and "vote chori", the protesting MPs raised slogans against the SIR exercise in Bihar while carrying placards and banners. Before embarking on the protest march at Parliament's Makar Dwar, they sang the national anthem.

The march is to raise allegations of "vote chori" or vote theft during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and concerns about the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.

Opposition Parties Unite for Protest

The march started from the Makar Dwar in Parliament and head towards Nirvachan Sadan, the ECI office. Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Gaurav Gogoi, along with other parliamentarians from the INDIA bloc, participated in it. The protest is a collective effort involving parties like Congress, Samajwadi Party, TMC, DMK, AAP, Left parties, RJD, NCP(SP), Shiv Sena (UBT), and National Conference.

Delhi Police's Stance on March

Despite the planned route being less than 2 km long, Delhi Police may not allow the march to reach its destination. A senior officer mentioned that no formal request for police permission has been submitted yet. The protest is scheduled to start at 11:30 am from Parliament's Makar Dwar.

Multi-Language Posters and AAP's Participation

The INDIA bloc has decided not to use its banner for this protest to include AAP, which left the alliance last month but still has 12 MPs in Parliament. Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose expressed hope that AAP would join the event. Protesters plan to carry posters in various languages such as English, Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, and Marathi.

Rahul Gandhi's Allegations of Voter Fraud

Rahul Gandhi recently accused authorities of manipulating over 100,000 votes in Karnataka's Mahadevapura assembly segment during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He presented these findings at a press conference last week. However, the Election Commission dismissed his claims as "incorrect" through social media posts and requested him to provide evidence under oath.

Call for Transparency from Election Commission

On Sunday, Congress launched a web portal urging citizens to demand accountability from the EC and release digital voter rolls. Rahul Gandhi emphasized that "Vote Chori is an attack on the foundational idea of 'one man, one vote'." He stressed the importance of clean voter rolls for fair elections and called for transparency from the EC.

The upcoming protest highlights growing concerns among opposition parties regarding electoral integrity in India. As they prepare to march towards the ECI headquarters on Monday morning, their demands for transparency and accountability continue to resonate across political lines.