INDIA bloc announces ‘public impeachment’ of Gyanesh Kumar; plans 10-lakh rally against ‘vote chori’

New Delhi: Leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc will hold a mock “public impeachment” of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on October 30, followed by a march against alleged vote theft in Delhi on November 1, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said.

The mock Parliament proceedings will take place at Hotel Ashok in New Delhi, with opposition MPs and senior leaders expected to attend. The event will conclude with the announcement of a public verdict against Kumar, according to Venugopal.

Announcing the plans on X, Venugopal said the initiative was part of the opposition's effort to “save the Constitution and defeat the Vote Chors”.

“After this Public Impeachment, we will hold a ‘Dilli Chalo March’ against ‘Vote Chori’ culminating at Ramleela Maidan on November 1st, where at least a million concerned citizens will participate,” he said.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has reached out to leaders of INDIA bloc parties, urging them to attend the two events in Delhi. Kharge has already spoken to several leaders, Venugopal said.

INDIA bloc plans mega rally against 'vote chori'

The November 1 march will culminate at Ramlila Maidan and is being projected by the Congress as the opposition bloc's biggest rally against alleged electoral irregularities.

Congress leaders held internal meetings on Friday with heads of the party's frontal organisations and leaders of its Delhi unit to review preparations for the event. The discussions followed meetings with leaders of the party's Uttar Pradesh and Haryana units a day earlier.

Venugopal said the party was mobilising its workers and organisational units to ensure a large turnout.

“We continued our meetings to take stock of preparations for the INDIA Bloc Mega Rally against Vote Chori on November 1st,” he said in a post on X.

Mahila Congress president Alka Lamba said the party was targeting a gathering of 10 lakh people. She ruled out postponing or cancelling the rally despite suggestions that the festival season could affect attendance.

The Congress said the rally would demonstrate the opposition bloc's unity in defending democracy and challenge what it describes as “vote chori”.

Opposition protests over SIR, alleged electoral irregularities

The proposed events are part of a series of opposition protests against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and alleged irregularities in the electoral process.

The opposition has accused the Election Commission of overseeing the deletion of lakhs of voters' names during the revision exercise and has demanded Kumar's resignation. These allegations have been rejected by the authorities.

On October 12, the campaign reached the Supreme Court, where opposition leaders joined activists and civil society members in a ‘March for Democracy’. The participants marched along a heavily barricaded route and filed a joint petition challenging the SIR exercise.

The INDIA bloc says the upcoming events will intensify pressure on the government and the Election Commission over its allegations of electoral malpractice.

PTI