Nearly 10,000 police and paramilitary personnel will guard central Delhi on Sunday as the Opposition INDIA bloc marches from the edge of Connaught Place to Ramlila Maidan for its largest show of strength yet against Chief Election Commissioner ( CEC ) Gyanesh Kumar, a march for which, senior police officers said, no permission was sought or granted.
Opposition parties claim nearly one million people will come from across the country, while the police have planned for about 50,000, the capacity of the ground, and say any overflow will be held back on the surrounding roads. The police say they will facilitate the march, which Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi announced on Instagram on Friday, but the two sides are preparing for very different crowds.
“The organisers have not approached us seeking permission for the march. Traders near the ground, facing the loss of business on the last Sunday before Diwali, have voiced concern, and the Confederation of All India Traders has started a petition against the frequency of rallies in central Delhi.
The BJP, which has accused the alliance of attacking constitutional bodies after failing to win voters’ confidence, said the Opposition had made a “mockery” of Parliament and democracy, and its spokesperson Sambit Patra said the bloc could have Gandhi as a “mock Prime Minister for life”. However, we are trying to facilitate it as smoothly as possible,” said Rohit Rajbir Singh, deputy commissioner of police (central), adding that the police were coordinating with the organisers on the route. Union home minister Amit Shah, who on Friday offered to convene a special session of Parliament on the vote-theft allegations, said Gandhi wanted “drama on the streets”.
Beyond Sunday, Opposition leaders plan to take what they describe as evidence of vote theft to President Droupadi Murmu and carry the agitation into the states.
Meanwhile, opposition parties on Saturday held a symbolic “public impeachment” of Kumar at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge ’s 10, Rajaji Marg residence in Delhi. At the event, attended by Opposition MPs and leaders, as well as activists and members of civil society, Kharge read out an INDIA bloc resolution accusing the CEC of taking part in a “devious and malevolent criminal conspiracy orchestrated by the BJP to steal national and state elections”, which it called “an act of treason against the nation and the Constitution of India” for which he must be tried in a court. “If the numbers increase beyond the capacity, the crowd spillover will be contained on roads adjoining the venue, and accordingly traffic restrictions would be imposed,” Singh said.
