India Block, an alliance of opposition parties, held a big rally on Sunday at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan. In this rally, opposition leaders fiercely attacked the Central Government and the Election Commission.
Opposition leaders accused SIR of weakening democracy in the country and 'stealing votes'. Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and former West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee directly alleged that their supporters' votes were being harvested, which led to their defeat in the assembly elections of their respective states.
Workers of Congress, Samajwadi Party, Left parties and opposition parties reached Ramlila Maidan and a huge crowd was seen in the rally.
Many leaders including Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Sonia Gandhi participated in this rally.
Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav, former Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee, two former Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti participated.
CPIML General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya also fiercely attacked the government.
At the rally organized at Ramlila Maidan, Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha 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. After Gyanesh Kumar, we will stand in front of you. Legal action will be taken against you."
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."
Alleging 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 the Prime Minister and Amit Shah would not have become the Home Minister."
After reaching the stage at Ramlila Maidan, Rahul Gandhi said in his address that the voice of the people is telling that 'we will not let democracy end in the country. You may think yourself big, you may have money, but you are not bigger than the Constitution. The Constitution is bigger than you.
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 legend and alleged, "You all know what game Shakuni played in the Mahabharata. Who was Shakuni and what was his pasha. When Shakuni is playing his game then we will have to fight the battle of the Mahabharata."
"When Shakuni used to throw to Pasha, Pasha did what Shakuni told him to do. 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.
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 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 votes from 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."
Earlier on Saturday, the India Alliance passed a resolution of 'public impeachment' against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in Delhi.
The resolution to remove Gyanesh Kumar from the post of Chief Election Commissioner was passed unanimously in a 'mock parliament' at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
At the end of the discussion on the proposal, Rahul Gandhi said, "The names of 13.3 crore voters were removed from the voter list. These voters had voted in the last Lok Sabha (2019) elections. In 2024, BJP won the election with a margin of 3 percent. By erasing the names of one out of every seven voters, the Election Commission has admitted that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were illegal."
Rahul Gandhi said that Gyanesh and his co-conspirators have committed 'treason' and action will definitely be taken against them.
Rahul Gandhi said that Gyanesh Kumar is no longer going to survive as the Chief Election Commissioner.
Rahul Gandhi claimed that Gyanesh Kumar "will not be able to continue in the post of Chief Election Commissioner" and the opposition has "enough evidence" to ensure that he does not continue in the post.
Rahul Gandhi said, "If despite the 'evidence' we bring forward, BJP remains adamant on keeping him on the post, then BJP's game will be clear in front of everyone."
On this, BJP said that the opposition can declare Rahul Gandhi as its "mock prime minister".
BJP has also announced to hold a "counter rally" in response to the India Alliance rally on November 1. BJP President Nitin Naveen will lead this rally in Rohtak, Haryana.
Jantar Mantar was de-notified as a protest venue after large demonstrations took place in the first two weeks of October. After this, Delhi Police chose Ramlila Maidan as one of the three places decided for the protest.
The Congress-led India Alliance is holding a massive rally at Ramlila Maidan against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists.
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 the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had appealed to people, including students and civil society groups, to attend the meeting.
He described this meeting, which was held from 10 am to 5 pm, as a movement to protect democracy and the Constitution.
Rahul Gandhi also appealed to the protesters to join the rally and support local shopkeepers by shopping during the festive season.
This rally of November 1 was supported by many political parties and many big opposition leaders participated in it.
The Indian Youth Congress had said that people attending the rally would wear white clothes and look like "ghosts".
