‘Symbolic farce’: BJP hits back at INDIA bloc over Delhi rally against SIR

New Delhi: Political tensions escalated in the national capital on Sunday as the Congress-led INDIA bloc held its ‘Chalo Dilli’ march at Ramlila Maidan, targeting Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

The BJP hit back at the Opposition, with Bihar unit president Sanjay Saraogi dismissing the rally as a “symbolic farce” driven by frustration over repeated electoral defeats. Senior BJP leader RP Singh, meanwhile, accused the Opposition of disrupting parliamentary proceedings and taking political disputes to the streets instead of engaging in debate.

Speaking to ANI, Saraogi defended the Election Commission of India's voter list revision exercise, saying it involved the removal of ineligible entries, including those belonging to deceased persons, duplicate registrations and people who had permanently shifted.

“The symbolic farce of a resolution staged by this arrogant alliance is evident. This clearly shows the frustration from their electoral defeat,” he said.

He further accused the Opposition of attempting to create a misleading narrative during the festive season, claiming that people across the country would reject such politics.

“At a time of festivals, they are trying to set a false narrative, which the people of Delhi and the people of the country cannot tolerate under any circumstances,” Saraogi said.

RP Singh also criticised the INDIA bloc, accusing it of avoiding parliamentary debates and resorting to street protests instead.

“The Opposition has turned from an opposition side into an obstructionist side. The programmes they should hold in Parliament, the debates they should conduct in Parliament, they do on the streets,” he said.

He further alleged that Opposition parties were disrupting proceedings both inside and outside Parliament.

“They neither let Parliament function nor the streets. They don't want to discuss. They want to create deadlocks and spread anarchy in the country,” Singh said.

Meanwhile, security has been tightened across the national capital as the Congress-led INDIA bloc holds its rally at Ramlila Maidan, while the BJP organises a counter-march in West Delhi.

Nearly 10,000 police and paramilitary personnel, including Delhi Police, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Rapid Action Force (RAF), have been deployed across Central and New Delhi to manage the two political events.

Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) has been imposed in sensitive areas to prevent unauthorised gatherings. Security agencies are also using CCTV cameras, AI-enabled facial recognition systems and drones to monitor crowd movement.