Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday joined the Opposition leaders in launching scathing attacks at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the Ramlila Maidan rally in New Delhi against the alleged vote theft and irregularities in the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls, as he turned his offensive into a fervent poll speech ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections due next year, and hailed his party’s victory in the Varanasi MLC elections and warned of ousting the BJP from the state.
But next year they will face such an exit that they won’t be able to come back,” Yadav said, referring to the BJP’s 33 seats as against 62 in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from the state. The Opposition has been leading protests against the CEC and has met President Droupadi Murmu on October 9, demanding his removal and the repeal of the 2023 law that provides immunity to the CEC and Election Commissioners. In the last Lok Sabha election, they were sent off partially. The Opposition claimed that a massive turnout at the rally indicated that a change is in the offing, while asserting that those in the Centre will have no ground to stand on as the demand for the removal of Chief Electoral Commissioner ( CEC ) Gyanesh Kumar intensified. Spearheaded by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, the rally was participated by opposition leaders across party lines, including former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, CPI(M) general secretary MA Baby, CPI general secretary D Raja, and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, among others. “Prime Minister Modi, you have to choose between the country and Gyanu; the whole country is watching.
Likening the gathering to the “Haldighati of democracy”, referring to the engagement between the Mewar kingdom and the Mughal empire in 1576, Yadav said the public support reflects the possibility of change. Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that the democracy will survive “only if Modi goes” and called for the prime minister’s ouster. It has accused the CEC of the “unilateral and arbitrary exercise of the collective powers” during the ongoing revision of electoral rolls. This fight is between the country’s voters and its cheaters,” Yadav said.
“Today, Ramlila Maidan has turned into the Haldighati of democracy…People of UP know how to cordially invite someone but they know better how to send someone off.
