Rahul, Priyanka Gandhi stage sit-in outside EC office as INDIA bloc raises demand for CEC's resignation

Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were stopped from entering the Election Commission office complex on Tuesday, following which INDIA bloc MPs staged a sit-in outside the EC office after marching from Parliament to Nirvachan Sadan, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were stopped from entering the Election Commission office complex on Tuesday, following which INDIA bloc MPs staged a sit-in outside the EC office after marching from Parliament to Nirvachan Sadan, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Earlier, Gandhi climbed atop heavy iron barriers near the NITI Aayog office, waving the tricolour while marching towards the Election Commission of India (ECI) headquarters.

Samajwadi Party MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq, along with his fellow MPs, was also seen atop the barricades as Delhi Police personnel attempted to halt the advancing march along the high-security corridor en route to Nirvachan Sadan. Raising slogans demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and CEC Gyanesh Kumar, the INDIA bloc leaders and supporters took to the streets of the national capital.

NCP-SP MP Supriya Sule, along with several other INDIA bloc MPs, took part in the protest march. Taking a jibe at the Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, in a post on X, said, “Gyanesh, it’s done, bro. Time to resign.”,

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Modi government of trying to “snatch away” the rights granted to citizens after Independence and warned that people would not remain silent if their democratic rights were undermined during the INDIA bloc march against CEC Gyanesh Kumar. Addressing the ongoing INDIA bloc protest march, Kharge said the rights secured for young voters, women, farmers and poor people after Independence were being threatened.

“Rajiv Gandhi ji has given the rights to the young voters, women voters, farmers, poor people who have been given the rights after independence. Today, the Modi government is trying to snatch away those rights,” Kharge said. Several other MPs joined the march on Tuesday, calling for the immediate resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar.

Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury said, "It is a matter of national shame that the corrupt people sitting there have compromised the integrity of one of the world's largest democracies. They have snatched away the common man's vote and constitutional rights... As Members of Parliament, it is our responsibility to raise the voice of the common man. Lakhs of people were removed in West Bengal." Congress MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said, "We should demand the resignation of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, at whose behest these wrongdoings are taking place... If the decision within the Election Commission is to be taken by just one person, then why were two other individuals appointed? The system should be scrapped." (ANI)