The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday took a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the INDIA bloc over their claim that 10 lakh people would attend the Opposition rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, alleging that nearly 40 per cent of the venue remained vacant. BJP MP Sambit Patra questioned the turnout after the ‘Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao’ gathering, sharing visuals of the ground and claiming that thousands of chairs were unoccupied.
He described the rally as a “super flop” event and accused the Congress of exaggerating attendance figures. The Opposition had organised the demonstration to protest alleged electoral irregularities and demand the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Sambit Patra Cites Empty Chairs, Calls Rally A ‘Super Flop’
Addressing a press conference after the rally, Patra said that around 40 per cent of Ramlila Maidan was vacant despite Congress leaders projecting a turnout of 10 lakh people. He claimed that between 5,000 and 7,000 chairs remained unoccupied out of the 28,000 arranged at the venue between 3.30 pm and 4 pm.
“You can see in the background that 40 per cent of the Ramlila Maidan, 40% of the space, was vacant,” Patra said, questioning where the 10 lakh attendees promised by Rahul Gandhi and his team were. He also accused the Congress of using “trick photography” to create an impression of a larger gathering.
Patra also questioned the Opposition’s decision to bring together several political parties for the gathering, saying their combined strength had failed to translate into the turnout they had projected. Dismissing the rally as a “complete waste of time”, he said political leadership could not be established through what he described as publicity tactics. Union Minister Giriraj Singh also targeted the Congress, claiming that nearly half the venue remained empty despite announcements of a massive gathering.
BJP Questions Rahul Gandhi’s Electoral Allegations
The BJP leader also challenged Gandhi’s allegations that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were illegitimate and that the Election Commission had facilitated electoral manipulation. Patra said that if the Congress believed the election was illegal, it should have challenged the result in court. He asked Gandhi and other INDIA bloc leaders to identify any petition filed by them challenging the 2024 general election, arguing that they could not declare an election illegitimate years after the results.
The INDIA bloc rally was organised under the ‘Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao’ banner, with leaders including Gandhi, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accusing the Election Commission of irregularities in electoral rolls and misuse of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. The Opposition demanded accountability from the poll body and the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
