“My goal is 100 FIRs,” says Rahul Gandhi as INDIA bloc plans next move
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday made light of an FIR registered against him over his protest at Akashvani Bhavan, saying he had 45 FIRs against him and was aiming for 100, as the INDIA bloc met in Delhi to chalk out its next steps over the “vote chori” issue.
“There are 45 FIRs against me. My goal is 100,” Gandhi said, reacting to the case registered against him and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for entering the Akashvani Bhavan premises without permission and staging a sit-in there on Tuesday.
The FIRs came a day after a high-voltage protest by Opposition MPs in central Delhi. Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and several other Opposition leaders entered the Akashvani Bhavan premises after police stopped their march towards the Election Commission headquarters.
The MPs had been seeking to meet the Election Commissioners and demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Their sit-in began around noon and continued for more than eight hours before police personnel forcibly removed the protesters from the premises and took them into custody. Gandhi and other Congress MPs were taken away in police vehicles as they resisted the detention.
Most of the Opposition MPs who had marched towards the Election Commission were also detained. Gandhi and the other detainees were released after 10 pm following around two hours in custody.
On Wednesday, INDIA bloc MPs met for lunch at Sagar Ratna restaurant on Delhi’s Janpath on the invitation of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to discuss the next course of action.
Kharge said the Opposition would take the “vote chori” issue to the people, alleging that democracy was being undermined.
The meeting came amid heightened security around the Election Commission and Akashvani Bhavan. Major roads leading towards the poll panel's headquarters were closed as Opposition parties continued their protests.
The Opposition has been demanding Kumar’s resignation over the SIR exercise and alleged irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission. The poll body has rejected allegations of internal division and maintained that decisions relating to the SIR were taken unanimously.
The protests have intensified following recent Supreme Court proceedings concerning the functioning of the Election Commission and alleged changes to Form 6, the statutory application for voter registration. The court has sought the poll panel’s response and said it would examine the records before deciding whether any statutory requirements were violated.