'Delhi Chalo' march: Kiren Rijiju's 5 questions to Congress ahead of INDIA bloc rally

NEW DELHI: Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday posed five questions to the Congress, a day before the opposition INDIA bloc's rally at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan to seek the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls."I challenge the Congress party to answer these basic questions," he posted on X.

Rijiju first question was how the Congress managed to win just 44 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, despite the polls being conducted by an Election Commission whose members were appointed under the then Congress-led UPA government.Also Read | From Minto Road to Ramlila Maidan: Rahul Gandhi announces INDIA bloc's November 1 march route; security uppedPointing out that Kumar was not the CEC during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, having been appointed to the EC only ahead of the polls and elevated to the top post in 2025, the minister questioned how the Congress still lost, marking its third consecutive Lok Sabha election defeat.The Congress-led opposition has repeatedly accused Kumar of manipulating elections in favour of the BJP.Meanwhile, Rijiju further asked whether all sitting Congress chief ministers would resign and whether the party would apologise for forming governments between 2014 and 2026, if it had won elections despite alleged manipulation in the BJP's favour.

His next questions focused on the SIR, with Rijiju asking whether illegal immigrants, deceased individuals and people who had relocated should be removed from electoral rolls, and whether the eight previous revision exercises were also "illegal."

The current protests follow a report published by The Indian Express in September, which stated that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected at least 14 times to decisions they claimed were taken without their knowledge, including those concerning the SIR.Also Read | BJP plans counter-protest against INDIA bloc's 'Delhi Chalo' rally, 1984 anti-Sikh riots to be in focusResponding to the report, the EC said that disagreements were common in multi-member institutions and that all decisions were ultimately taken unanimously.Decisions in the poll panel are taken either by consensus or by a 2-1 majority.