At Ramlila Maidan, Rahul Gandhi Says Chief Election Commissioner Must Go to Jail, Calls Vote Theft Treason

Top leaders of India's opposition parties gathered on Sunday at the crowded Ramlila Maidan in the heart of Delhi. A dozen opposition leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, Mamata Banerjee, M A Baby and Tejashwi Yadav, joined the huge protest programme against the Election Commission over alleged irregularities in the electoral rolls. NDTV Online reported the information on Sunday.

Through the opposition alliance INDIA's 'Chalo Delhi' programme, the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was demanded over alleged irregularities in the 'Special Intensive Revision', or SIR, process of the electoral rolls.

A large presence of workers from different parties was seen on the ground. Congress brought its workers from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Haryana; leaders of the Samajwadi Party and the RJD also arrived with their party workers. The report said the strongest presence at the base of the protest, however, was that of leftist workers.

Addressing the rally in Hindi, Rahul Gandhi said: "This theft of votes is no ordinary theft. It is the theft of every voice in India. This is what is called treason."

Calling the last Lok Sabha election 'illegal', he said: "Without Gyanesh Kumar, Narendra Modi could not have become prime minister, and Amit Shah could not have become home minister either."

Rahul Gandhi said: "Votes were stolen in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Votes were stolen through EVMs and by manipulating the voter list. After the 2024 election, the names of 15 percent of voters were removed from the list. In 2024, the vote gap between us (the INDIA alliance) and the (BJP-led) NDA was 3 percent. The 2024 election was illegal."

Referring to what he had said in the past about the impact of the 2020-21 Covid pandemic, he claimed: "Whatever I say turns out to be true in the end, doesn't it?"

Saying the chief election commissioner would have to go to jail, Rahul said: "And I am telling every citizen of India and every young person: Gyanesh Kumar will be removed from the post of chief election commissioner. Gyanesh Kumar will have to go to jail."

At the same time, leaders of the ruling BJP were also holding a counter-procession in the national capital and bringing up the 1984 anti-Sikh riots to attack Congress.

Meanwhile, severe traffic congestion in the busy shopping areas of central Delhi has raised fears that traders' incomes will be badly hit during the festive season. The opposition's protest venue is located in a crowded area where many wholesale traders have shops, and they are now worried about their business.