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A meeting of 'India' Bloc, an alliance of opposition parties, was held on Wednesday. Leaders of 19 parties participated in it. However, many prominent leaders, including Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, an important constituent of the alliance, were not present in the meeting.
Akhilesh Yadav was present in the nomination of two of his party's candidates for Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh in Lucknow. In his place, senior leaders of Samajwadi Party attended the meeting.
Apart from Akhilesh Yadav, DMK leader MK Stalin and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal also did not attend the meeting.
BJP has raised questions on the unity of the 'India' block due to the absence of leaders of the opposition alliance.
SP leader spoke on Akhilesh's absence
However, regarding Akhilesh's absence, Samajwadi Party leader Mahibullah Nadvi claimed that the India alliance is strong.
He said, "The Samajwadi Party had sent the names of two people from our delegation, Harendra Malik ji and me. Since elections are being held in Uttar Pradesh, our party leader Akhilesh Yadav ji was busy there. So after the discussion, he explained the reason for his not being able to come here and sent both of us here. This shows that the entire India alliance is united."
Regarding this meeting, BJP raised questions on unity in India alliance. Union Minister and senior BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chauhan asked, 'Elections are going to be held in Uttar Pradesh, where was Akhilesh Yadav?'
Many top leaders including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee were present in this meeting. In this, many important decisions were taken including taking out 'Save Democracy March' across the country between October 2 and October and an attempt was made to give the message of unity in the alliance.
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It is noteworthy that the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) has also called for Jail Bharo Andolan on October 2, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. CJP plans to protest in Mumbai and Delhi.
What decisions were taken in India alliance?
Many leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Abhishek Banerjee, Derek O'Brien, Kalyan Banerjee, Tejashwi Yadav, Supriya Sule, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti, current Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah, CPI-ML General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, Kapil Sibal were present in the meeting of India Alliance at the Constitution Club of India in Delhi.
This meeting was presided over by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. Kharge gave information about important decisions taken in this.
The Congress President said that mainly six decisions were taken in the meeting of India Alliance to save democracy-
District level 'Save Democracy March' from October 2 to October 8.
On October 6, MPs from opposition parties will march to the Election Commission.
Leaders of opposition parties will seek an appointment with the President of India in the second week of October.
India alliance will organize five big rallies.
There will be a big rally in Delhi on November 1, in which issues related to 'vote theft' will be raised.
India alliance demands that all the cases related to SIR should be disposed of in the Supreme Court as soon as possible.
What did Rahul Gandhi say?
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During the meeting, Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said that 'those who are destroying Indian democracy will be punished. It doesn't matter how senior they are or who they are.
He said, "Indian democracy is bigger than any individual in the country. All parties are of the opinion that the democratic system of India has been attacked by BJP, Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Gyanesh Kumar. And we are not going to let it go just like that. All the opposition leaders are the collective protectors of Indian democracy. It is an honor for us to work together and we are confident that in the next few months we will bring some serious changes in the country."
Rahul Gandhi said, "There is also a feeling in the room that the opposition has been quite successful in spreading the message among the people of India that elections are stolen, that Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have destroyed democracy. There is a new feeling of protest, especially among the youth, that what is happening in India is wrong and it should be stopped."
After the meeting, Mallikarjun Kharge said, "Actually, two-three people inside the Election Commission are just pawns, while Amit Shah and Narendra Modi are running them like puppets."
He further said that in this meeting all the parties talked about fighting this fight unitedly.
Mamata Banerjee, former Chief Minister of West Bengal and recently given the new name by the Election Commission, Chief of All India Trinamool Congress, while talking to the media after the meeting of India Alliance, demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
He said, "By stealing votes, BJP won in Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Bihar and looted in Bengal. We have also gone to the Supreme Court and knocked on all the doors."
Mamata Banerjee said, "Let's save democracy and protect people's safety and voting rights. These are our constitutional rights. This is our responsibility towards the people."
"If people are not able to vote, if their votes are being looted or they are being cheated, then where will the country go? So, this is our request. This is our demand."
BJP raised questions on the absence of leaders
After the meeting of India Alliance of opposition parties in Delhi, BJP held a press conference and criticized Congress and the alliance.
Regarding the meeting of India Alliance, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan said, "Even before the meeting, the alliance appeared scattered. Elections are going to be held in UP, where was Akhilesh Yadav? If the issue is so important then why was Akhilesh Yadav not there?"
He said, "DMK chief Stalin, JMM chief Hemant Soren and AAP's Arvind Kejriwal were also missing. Uddhav Thackeray also did not reach there and joined virtually."
He said that the India alliance is not ready to accept Rahul Gandhi as its leader.
However, Mallikarjun Kharge said that Hemant Soren and Uddhav Thackeray were connected online and expressed their views.
Kerala BJP President Rajeev Chandrashekhar alleged that the India alliance has no real concern for the country.
He said, "The India alliance no longer has any relevance. It has basically become a medium to promote Rahul Gandhi and build his image. It is not even about the entire Congress party, but about Rahul Gandhi in particular. Their entire focus is on promoting Rahul Gandhi and keeping him relevant. Many parties in the alliance are now moving away from it. The parties which are still in it will also eventually understand this."
Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi said, "They are hungry for power and when someone is hungry for power, he is very aggressive. But we cannot give a solution to this. The solution is to win the hearts of the people."
"The most unfortunate and surprising thing is that they are talking about democracy. They had completely destroyed democracy during the Emergency. And now three people from the same family are in Parliament. This is dynasty. Will these people talk about democracy?"
