India’s Opposition Stages a Large Gathering to Call for the Resignation of the Election Head
Tens of thousands of protesters have assembled in India’s capital, Delhi for a large opposition rally demanding the resignation of the country’s chief election commissioner following a contentious adjustment of voter lists.
The demonstration, coordinated by the opposition INDIA group and chaired by Rahul Gandhi’s Congress party, has gathered together some of India’s most important politicians at Ramlila Maidan, a huge site in central Delhi. They arrived at the venue on Sunday riding in jeeps through hordes of adoring fans.
Among those in attendance were Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, along with Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav.
The gathering follows weeks of opposition rallies against a voter-list editing process that erased 130 million names off draft electoral rosters.
Opposition parties accuse Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of using the exercise to rig elections. Both the BJP and the Election Commission have denied the charges.
Protesters screamed “Save the vote, save the country” and “Vote thief, give up power” as they sang and danced to patriotic Bollywood tunes. Thousands of police and paramilitary men were stationed surrounding the event, with barriers and traffic controls in place.
The Gen Z-led pressure group Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has also expressed support, though its leaders have yet to appear at the event.
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