Rahul Gandhi, Kharge And Mamata Banerjee To Meet President Amid INDIA Bloc Protest

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, along with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, are scheduled to meet President Droupadi Murmu as the Opposition presses for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The INDIA bloc’s protest against the Election Commission entered its third day on Thursday, with Opposition MPs deciding to move their demonstration to Gandhi Smarak for a peaceful sit-in.

Congress president Kharge announced the move after hosting INDIA bloc leaders for lunch at Moets restaurant in Connaught Place. Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition MPs attended the gathering, their second lunch meeting.

“We all, the MPs of the INDIA alliance, are going to Gandhi Smarak, where we will hold a sit-in, and peacefully sitting there, we will only pray that the BJP government, Modi, and Shah are given wisdom," Kharge said.

He said the Opposition wanted to highlight alleged “vote theft", rising inflation and problems facing young people. Kharge called on the BJP government to “come to its senses" and said all INDIA bloc MPs were heading to Gandhi Smarak.

Rahul Gandhi Says MPs Want To Protest Peacefully

Rahul Gandhi said around 300 MPs from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha wanted to hold a peaceful demonstration but had been prevented from protesting for the past two days.

“Around 300 MPs—from the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha—wish to stage a peaceful protest. We have been prevented from protesting for two days now," he said.

Gandhi said Opposition MPs were initially stopped outside the Election Commission. When they subsequently sought to demonstrate at Jantar Mantar, they were stopped again, he said, alleging that Opposition members were beaten.

“On the first day, we were stopped in front of the Election Commission. After that, we said that we wanted to go to Jantar Mantar and protest. And yesterday, you saw that we were stopped at Jantar Mantar, and our people were beaten," he said.

The planned meeting with President Murmu comes amid the INDIA bloc’s continuing agitation over the SIR exercise and its demand for Kumar to step down.

Meanwhile, Opposition MPs were heading towards Gandhi Smarak to stage the sit-in announced by Kharge