Says ‘she did not deny’ but sought proof
NEW DELHI, OCT 9 (PTI): Leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc on Friday met President Droupadi Murmu and flagged the issue of its “vote chori” claims to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and repeal of all assembly polls held in the last two years, with Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi saying he was “shocked” that the president did not deny the ‘election theft’ charge.
After the meeting, Gandhi said the opposition leaders would go to the Supreme Court on Monday to meet Chief Justice Surya Kant and hand over a memorandum to him too.
A delegation of INDIA bloc leaders met the president and handed over a memorandum to her on alleged “vote chori” while demanding suspension of SIR and restoration of 13.3 crore voters deleted illegally from the voter lists.
In the memorandum submitted to President, the opposition parties also demanded the repeal of the 2023 law providing life-long immunity to CEC and ECs, besides return to paper ballots for all future elections.
President Murmu sought proof of ‘vote chori’ from the leaders and INDIA bloc will hand over the evidence it has to her when she is ready to accept it, Gandhi told reporters after the delegation comprising him, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, NCP(SP)’s Supriya Sule, SP’s Rajeev Rai, RJD’s Manoj Jha, VCK chief Thol. Thirumavalavan, CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby and CPI’s D Raja met her.
“We approach you because, in moments when every other door has been closed, the people of India look to the Office of the President as the final guardian of that covenant. We appeal to your conscience, to your sense of justice, and to your abiding duty to the people of this Republic.” the two-page memorandum said.
Alleging that “vote chori” has destroyed the very foundation of democracy, they said they had incontrovertible proof that theft of votes has taken place in election after election and cited the examples of Haryana, Maharashtra, MP, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Delhi and Bengal.
INDIA bloc MPs earlier met in the central hall of Samvidhan Sadan, where they deliberated on memorandum to be submitted to the President and finalised it.
They then moved from Parliament House to Vijay Chowk, where they were stopped by the police which had put up barricades. As senior leaders met the president, MPs continued to raise slogans at Vijay Chowk.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Kharge said INDIA bloc leaders sought return to ballot paper instead of EVMs for future polls. “The President asked for evidence of ‘vote chori’ which we will provide,” he said.
In her remarks to the press, Banerjee said INDIA bloc is together and is strong and she thought the meeting was positive.