Gyanesh has to go, PM & Shah next, says Rahul Gandhi at anti-CEC rally

Around 50,000 people turned up for INDIA bloc’s rally in Delhi on Sunday, according to Delhi Police estimates

NEW DELHI: In a Ramlila Maidan packed with protesters and ringing with anti-BJP and anti-CEC slogans Sunday, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said the opposition will confront the top BJP duo of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah after Gyanesh Kumar's removal as chief election commissioner.

The trio was losing sleep over the agitation, he claimed, and said the CEC's exit would be the first step in putting the country back on track.With opposition biggies Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, Mamata Banerjee, Tejashwi Yadav, Dipankar Bhattacharya, MA Baby, Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti on the dais, leader of opposition in Lok Sabha said the "voice of the people of India" is greater to him than religion, and he will brook no assault on it.Mocking BJP's catchphrase - "Modi kahin nahin jayega" - which was coined in response to Kharge's comment, Rahul said the PM won't be allowed to go anywhere. "You cannot flee... You will stay here and face action."

2024 polls illegal, says Rahul; Modi picking voters: Kharge

With a “vote bachao, desh bachao” banner forming the backdrop of the dais, the speakers focused on “vote chori”, repeating allegations about SIR and deletion of around 14 crore voters. Rahul accused the CEC, PM and Shah of suppressing the voice of people through “vote chori”.

While Mamata and Akhilesh said the West Bengal mandate to BJP was “stolen”, Rahul mentioned the Maharashtra, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, MP and 2024 Lok Sabha polls.He said the 2024 polls were illegal, arguing the difference between NDA and opposition was merely 3%, while 15% of the 2024 voters have been deleted under SIR. “Modi is selecting the voters,” Congress chief Kharge said.Led by Kharge, most INDIA bloc members stressed ejecting BJP from office was a must to save democracy, even leading the crowd in “BJP hatao, desh bachao” chants.Some reminded the crowd that Ramlila Maidan has been the harbinger of history and change in the past. SP chief Akhilesh called the historic venue the “Haldighati of democracy”, referring to the battlefield in Rajasthan where Maharana Pratap faced off with the Mughals in 1576, remembered as a symbol of defiant resistance to a powerful empire.Addressing the crowd that had been growing since 9am and remained eager even as main INDIA bloc members came on the dais only by 3pm, Akhilesh, who occupied a key spot with UP polls looming, hit out at Modi, saying, “Jo UP se aaye the, woh UP se hi jaayenge (those who came from UP, will go from UP)”.“The UP poll results will see off BJP from office in Lucknow and Delhi,” he said, also raising “chanda chori” in Ayodhya in his speech. Akhilesh warned BJP was constantly trying to steal elections, even blaming SP’s 2022 assembly defeat on voter list manipulation. The SP chief said UP BJP has stated that 1.27 crore votes of Hindus have been deleted in UP. He said the statement seems designed to “put the blame for their upcoming defeat on someone else” – touching upon the much-talked about “Delhi vs Lucknow” faultlines in BJP.

Indulging the sloganeering crowd, Rahul said his predictions always come true, and he was now forecasting that CEC Kumar would go to jail.“Vote chori” is no smalltime shoplifting but a “rarest of rare case” which qualifies as “treason”, Rahul said. “Without Gyanesh, Modi would not be PM and Shah would not be HM. He also accused RSS of capturing all institutions, including judiciary and bureaucracy, while “two or three people like Ambani and Adani have cornered all the wealth”.

He said RSSBJP have spread hatred in the country and the opposition wants to restore “mohabbat ki dukaan” and a culture of nonviolence.“...The voice of every citizen of India is more important to me...” he said. NC’s Abdullah said BJPRSS call Muslims Pakistanis, but Muslims have worked to strengthen the country. PDP’s Mehbooba said BJP has destroyed J&K, but it should not be allowed to ruin the country