Second Consecutive Meeting: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge is hosting INDIA bloc leaders for a lunch meeting in New Delhi for the second day in a row.
Protest Coordination: The gathering precedes an intensified opposition protest near central Delhi to strategize their ongoing movement.
Core Demands: The coalition is continuing its demonstrations to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged electoral process irregularities.
Opposition Lunch Today; Protest To Follow
Mallikarjun Kharge hosts a crucial second INDIA bloc lunch today, followed by a united opposition protest against the government
Summary
For the second consecutive day, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is hosting a lunch for INDIA bloc leaders at a restaurant here on Thursday, sources said.
They said after the lunch it is likely that there could be a protest, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The lunch by Kharge would be hosted at Moets in Outer Circle, Connaught Place at 1:45 PM, the sources said.
This comes a day after Rahul Gandhi led INDIA bloc leaders to another resistance-packed day -- moving from the opposition grouping's vegetarian lunch at Sagar Ratna, Janpath, to near Jantar Mantar in a procession of buses for a surprise dharna. But for the second day, police stalled the planned anti-CEC protests midway, forcibly detaining him and other leaders.
"We are not going to stop protesting till (Chief Election Commissioner) Gyanesh Kumar resigns. This is a fight to protect the most sacred thing in this country. There is nothing that Narendra Modi and Amit Shah can do that will stop us," Gandhi had said.
There were several dramatic moments in the nearly three-hour-long bus procession and an impromptu sit-in at the roundabout in front of the Shangri-La hotel when the opposition MPs were stopped by security personnel, with Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra lying flat on her back on the street, clutching a copy of the Constitution, along with other women leaders.
Rahul Gandhi kept resisting police attempts to put him inside a van for detention. The INDIA bloc leaders jostled with security personnel who tried to detain them and clear the area.
A day after INDIA bloc MPs' march from Parliament and Rahul Gandhi's sit-in at Akashvani Bhawan on Tuesday, Kharge hosted the lunch for the MPs of the alliance at a South Indian restaurant at Janpath, seen by many as a show of solidarity and a cover for launching another street protest.
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