Top leaders of the INDIA bloc are set to meet in New Delhi on Wednesday to chalk out an action plan for a joint agitation over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The meeting is also likely to discuss a draft notice for a motion in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seeking Kumar’s removal. Leaders are also expected to deliberate on the strategy for launching a nationwide agitation.
The meeting comes a day after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) passed a resolution demanding Kumar’s removal and calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Tomorrow, there is an INDIA bloc meeting. The Congress wants to hold a massive agitation to save democracy in the country with the help of all political parties. There will be valuable suggestions from leaders of the INDIA bloc tomorrow; after that we will sit and formalise the clear action plan for the future agitation,” AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal told the media on Tuesday.
Who will attend
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretaries Jairam Ramesh and K.C. Venugopal, TMC leaders Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee, and leaders from parties including the CPI, CPI(M), NCP(SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) are expected to attend Wednesday’s meeting.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is unlikely to attend because of the nominations for Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. He is expected to send representatives instead.
The DMK and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have said they will not attend the meeting.
The DMK recently announced its exit from the INDIA bloc after the Congress decided to support Vijay-led TVK to form the government in Tamil Nadu. Venugopal, however, said the Congress would discuss efforts to bring both the DMK and AAP on board.
“The DMK was very much part of INDIA bloc. Still, we believe they are all against this type of attack on democracy. That’s our thinking. Let us see,” he said.
DMK leader T.K.S. Elangovan said the party was no longer part of the INDIA bloc but would continue to stand with Opposition parties on several issues.
“In Parliament, we will support whoever brings a removal motion against Gyanesh Kumar... our leader had issued a statement. On many of the issues where other opposition parties oppose the BJP, we will also stand by them. That doesn’t mean that we are together. We are not in the INDIA bloc,” Elangovan said.
Why the poll body is under fire
The latest controversy erupted after The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had repeatedly disagreed with Kumar over voter-list revisions and the inclusion of new names.
According to the report, Sandhu and Joshi had objected on record at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions and orders relating to the SIR that they said were issued without their knowledge or recommendation.
The report triggered a political controversy, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleging that Kumar had helped the BJP “steal votes.”
On Tuesday, the CWC said the developments had vindicated Gandhi’s earlier warnings about what it called “vote chori”. It also raised concerns over reports that the Election Commission had effectively become a “one-man show”, alleging that the CEC was taking decisions without adequate consultation with the other Election Commissioners.
