Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday urged people, including student groups, to join the November 1 “Chalo Dilli” march at Ramlila Maidan against the alleged irregularities in special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls, even as the Opposition INDIA bloc geared up its campaign against the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and planned a “symbolic impeachment” of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Friday.
In a social media post, Gandhi described the proposed march as the “protest of the country” against the alleged vote theft. “The ‘Chalo Delhi’ Ramlila march is a march to save democracy, to prevent the theft of votes, and to protect the Constitution. This is not a march by any single political party—it is a march of the soul of India. Don’t worry about the police, don’t worry about lathis – the BJP will not have the guts to try any of their antics. Come march with us – we will walk together to protect the Constitution, to protect the Indian nation,” he said in a video shared on X.
He also called upon student groups, irrespective of any political affiliations, to join the march. “I urge all student groups, regardless of your political affiliation – if you feel that India is under attack, if you feel you are under attack, your expression, your ideas, your way of thinking is under attack, come and join us. It will be a fantastic march…”
There was no immediate response from the BJP and police.
Gandhi’s post came as police have made elaborate arrangements to ensure people do not march towards Jantar Mantar and other restricted zones.
Opposition plans symbolic impeachment of the CEC
Meanwhile, the opposition parties have decided to hold the “symbolic impeachment” of the CEC at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence on Friday.
According to leaders aware of the matter, the session will be presided over by former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will move the resolution against Gyanesh Kumar, before opening the session for other leaders. Gandhi will deliver the final speech. People whose names have been reportedly deleted from the voters’ list will also speak at the session, they said.
“After Kharge, two people whose names have been deleted in the SIR, will narrate their ordeals. Next, the various political parties will speak on the impeachment of Kumar. Samajwadi Party and the Trinamool have been allotted ten minutes each. Other parties will get 5 minutes to present their case,” said a leader.
Earlier in the day, senior opposition leaders including Congress general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, KC Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh, Samajwadi Party’s Harendra Malik, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien and CPI(M)’s John Brittas discussed the objectives of the session in a meeting.
Session planned as a political debate
The parties had earlier planned to run a “mock Parliament” to impeach Kumar, but later unanimously decided to turn the event into a “more serious political debate that will only have a hint of a mock Parliament”, two leaders present in the meeting said.
“We have decided it would not be a mock impeachment. It would be the reflection of the aspirations of the people. We would have a proper impeachment process with a presiding officer there…There will be representatives from the civil society and the victims of SIR also will come and tender their evidence,” Brittas said,
“There is no enacting. It is not a mock parliament or parody. It is a serious impeachment of Gyanesh Kumar and pathetic functioning of the ECI,” O’Brien said.
Plans to impersonate Modi, Shah dropped
According to leaders, the original plan was to get lawmakers impersonate Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minsiter Amit Shah and the CEC. However, O’Brien objected to the proposition, maintaining no one in his party is interested to mimic any leader. “Other leaders including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Brittas instantly supported O’Brien and there was an unanimity that the Opposition must look at a hardcore political programme and not just a mock Parliament,” the leaders said.
Brittas said nobody wants to be a part of the treasury bench in the session because its members are seen as those “supporting Gyanesh Kumar”.
A senior Congress leader said they had also planned to invite former Supreme Court judges and jurists to participate in the mock parliament, but at least five former judges refused to join the show.
Opposition’s demands and the removal process
The Opposition has been leading protests against Kumar and has met President Droupadi Murmu, demanding his removal and the repeal of the 2023 law that provides civil and criminal immunity to the serving and former CECs and Election Commissioners. It has accused the CEC of the “unilateral and arbitrary exercise of the collective powers” during the ongoing revision of electoral rolls.
Under the law, the CEC can be removed by Parliament through a process similar to the impeachment of a Supreme Court judge. The CEC or an Election Commissioner may also resign by submitting a written resignation to the President.
