INDIA bloc leaders march from Parliament to Election Commission office

Opposition MPs agreed that the exercise remains the key issue for the Monsoon Session, and said they will continue protests inside, as well as outside, the House, pressing for a debate on the issue.

More than 30 MPs, including SP’s Akhilesh Yadav, Congress’ Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut and TMC’s Sagarika Ghose, were detained and taken to the Parliament Street Police Station. The Election Commission had only given permission to 30 MPs to enter its premises but the protesters were in “large numbers”, officials said.

The Election Commission had only given permission to 30 MPs to enter its premises but the protesters were in “large numbers”, officials said.

The Leader of Oppostion in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said the Opposition is protesting for the right to vote for every Indian and demanded a “clean and pure” voter list, asserting that the issue of alleged irregularities pointed out by him will “explode” soon as it is not related to a single constituency but the whole country.

Parties in the Opposition have warned that the SIR in Bihar may lead to disenfranchisement of many, and have called it “vote-bandi” and “vote-chori” (vote theft).

Earlier, the Congress leader also alleged a large-scale manipulation of electoral rolls in Bengaluru’s Mahadevapura constituency in the 2023 Assembly polls.

The EC had given an appointment to Opposition MPs for an interaction at 12 pm on Monday, the letter addressed to Congress MP Jairam Ramesh read.

Signaling that he would not submit a signed affidavit as sought by the EC, Gandhi asserted that the data presented by the Congress to provide “proof” of “vote theft” is taken from the the commission’s website.

All the Members who were detained were released after about two hours, police officials said.

“This is their data. It is not my data that I should sign. It is their data only and has been taken from their website. This is only a move to distract,” Gandhi told reporters.

More than 30 MPs, including SP’s Akhilesh Yadav (in photo), Congress’ Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut and TMC’s Sagarika Ghose, were detained and taken to the Parliament Street Police Station.

“The EC knows that this data will explode. What it is trying to control and hide, we will bring it out, and it will explode. The EC knows this,” he added.

The Election Commission had given an appointment to Opposition MPs for an interaction at 12 pm on Monday (August 11), the letter addressed to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh read. The appointment was granted in response to Jairam Ramesh’s request on “behalf of certain political parties”. Due to limitations of the space, the EC had requested to submit the names of up to 30 people along with their vehicle numbers for the meeting.

The march, earlier set to be held on August 8, was rescheduled after the death of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren. All the Members who were detained were released after about two hours, police officials said.