'40% of Ramlila Maidan vacant': BJP mocks Rahul Gandhi over 10-lakh turnout claim
BJP's Sambit Patra said that while the Congress leaders claimed 10 lakh people would participate in the rally, only handful of them came.
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In a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who had previously claimed that 10 lakh attendees were expected at INDIA bloc's rally in Ramlila Maidan, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday said that 40% of the venue in Delhi was empty.
BJP's Sambit Patra said that while the Congress leaders claimed 10 lakh people would participate in the rally, only handful of them came.
“You can see in the background that 40 percent of the Ramlila Maidan, 40% of the space, was vacant. Rahul Gandhi and his team claimed that 10 lakh people would attend. Out of 28,000 chairs, around 5,000–7,000 were empty between 3:30–4 pm. This is the reality behind Congress's claim of 10 lakh attendees,” Patra said on Sunday following the INDIA bloc's rally at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan.
Patra made the remarks at a press conference in Delhi where he shared visuals from the rally to back his claim that nearly half of the venue of Opposition bloc's rally was empty.
Meanwhile, Opposition leaders hailed the success of the rally in Delhi. Senior advocate and Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the rally was ‘very successful.’
"This was a very successful rally, the BJP is frustrated by seeing the large numbers. CEC Gyanesh Kumar will have to resign, Singhvi said.
Following the rally, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said that Kumar should resign as people had lost faith in him.
“It looks like the voice of the people has been aroused, and it is time for Gyanesh Kumar to hear the voice of the people. If he has got an ounce of moral conscience, he should see that people have lost faith in him and he should quit," Tharoor was quoted as saying news agency ANI.
Oppn raises ‘vote chori’ pitch at Ramlila Maidan
INDIA bloc on Sunday held a mega rally against chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the alleged discrepancies in the voter rolls revision. The rally was attended by top Opposition leaders like Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Trinamool Congress' Mamata Banerjee, former J&K chief ministers Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
At the rally over Opposition's election rigging charge, Congress' Gandhi said that Kumar would go to jail, adding that said his removal from the poll body post would be the first step towards restoring the country’s democratic institutions.
Accusing Kumar of attempting to silence the voice of the nation, Gandhi said that he had committed the “biggest crime”, and asserted that the INDIA bloc would continue its fight to protect the Constitution and democratic rights.
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