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PoliticsOpposition

'This will not end with just one rally', says Khurshid; Rajeev Shukla asks why Gyanesh Kumar is not resigning

Congress leaders at Ramlila Maidan framed Sunday's INDIA bloc rally as the start of a longer campaign over names struck off the electoral rolls, and turned their fire on the Chief Election Commissioner.

From the editorial desk · New DelhiPublished
Congress leaders Salman Khurshid and Rajeev Shukla (file photo)
Congress leaders Salman Khurshid and Rajeev Shukla (file photo)Photos: Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade / Wikimedia Commons; Indigenus~enwiki at English Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0, CC BY-SA 3.0

Key points

  1. Salman Khurshid said the rally was part of an ongoing movement, not a one-off.
  2. Rajeev Shukla said the public has lost faith in CEC Gyanesh Kumar.
  3. K C Venugopal said all of Delhi was flooded with people.

The INDIA bloc’s rally at Ramlila Maidan is the opening of a longer fight, senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid said on Sunday afternoon, as opposition leaders pressed their demand that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar step down.

“This will not end with just one rally; this is part of an ongoing movement,” the former Union minister told reporters at the venue. He questioned the large-scale removal of names from voter lists during the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, and the criteria used to strike them off.

“Our grievance is that the names of fellow citizens have been excluded,” Khurshid said. “We do not want a single Indian to be left out.” He added: “It is the people of India who decide who becomes Prime Minister.”

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Shukla aimed directly at the CEC. “This Gyanesh Kumar has to answer: why is he not resigning? The public has lost faith in him,” he said on the sidelines of the rally. “People believe that he is not an impartial Election Commissioner.”

There was no immediate response from the Election Commission to the remarks.

Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said the turnout had gone beyond the ground itself. “Not only Ramlila Maidan, but the entire Delhi is flooded with people,” he said. “People have come from every corner to stand united and send a resounding message.”

The rally follows Saturday’s symbolic “impeachment” of the CEC staged by opposition leaders in the capital. Delhi Police have told the organisers to wind up the event by 5 pm.