WebinarsNew
Deep DiveNew
Explore Business Standard
Opposition Parties
Delhi was on high alert for the third consecutive day on Monday, with over 30,000 police and paramilitary personnel deployed across the capital ahead of an opposition protest march to the Supreme Court to intensify the agitation against CEC Gyanesh Kumar. Protests against Kumar over the weekend saw thousands, including Cockroach Janta Party leaders and former chief ministers, being detained by police. Opposition parties announced on October 11 that they would march to the Supreme Court on Monday to demand an end to "vote chori" and the resignation of the chief election commissioner (CEC). The entry and exit gates at six Delhi Metro stations will remain closed till 4 pm in view of the opposition's protest. Security has been tightened at the city's borders, railway stations, bus terminals and other sensitive locations to prevent unauthorised gatherings and maintain law and order, Delhi Police officials said. Police have intensified vehicle checks at the borders and stepped up ...
Intensifying their agitation against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the opposition parties would march to the Supreme Court on Monday, with Congress' Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge seeking a meeting with Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant to raise the issue of "vote chori". The Chief Justice, however, declined to meet Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi over "vote chori" allegations, saying similar matters are sub judice in the Supreme Court, sources said. Both Gandhi and Kharge had written to CJI Surya Kant, seeking a meeting between 4 and 5 pm on Monday to hand over a memorandum, demanding an end to "vote chori", CE Gyanesh Kumar's resignation, halting of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, and switching back to the paper ballot format. In response to Rahul Gandhi's request for a meeting, CJI Surya Kant said on Sunday that no orders can be passed on the administrative side, as he asked the Congress leader to file a petition on the ...
Entry and exit at six metro stations will remain closed from 6 am to 4 pm on Monday ahead of the Opposition's Supreme Court march, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said in a post on X. The six metro stations where entry and exit will remain closed are - Patel Chowk, Janpath, Rajiv Chowk, Mandi House, Central Secretariat and Barakhamba Road, the DMRC said. "The situation will be reviewed by the security agencies and necessary updates will be shared accordingly. However, interchange facility will remain available at all the concerned metro stations," it further said. The opposition parties would march to the Supreme Court on Monday, with Congress' Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge seeking a meeting with Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant to raise the issue of alleged "vote chori". The Chief Justice, however, declined to meet Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi over "vote chori" allegations, saying similar matters are sub judice in the Supreme Court, sources said
The INDIA bloc will hold a protest march in Delhi against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh on the 'vote chori' issue on Monday, while a delegation of its senior leaders will submit a memorandum to the Chief Justice of India for his intervention in the matter. On Monday, the Congress and the entire INDIA bloc and the country's youth will again take to the streets in massive numbers. This time too, the voice will echo across the nation louder than ever before, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said. "We will also meet the Chief Justice (of India) and demand that when the Constitution is being torn to shreds on Delhi's streets and democracy is being crushed, the guardians of the law cannot sit with blindfolds on," he said. "Will we stay silent while the Constitution is ripped apart? That will never happen. We will ensure accountability is fixed!" he added. Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal said the party appeals to every Indian concerned about democracy's survival
INDIA bloc leaders will meet President Droupadi Murmu at 8 pm Friday in connection with their demand for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. According to sources, the President's office confirmed the appointment on Friday morning. A ten-member delegation, including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, and TMC Chairperson Mamata Banerjee, would be among the leaders expected to meet the President. The opposition MPs have been staging protests in the national capital demanding Kumar's resignation for the last three days.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were forcibly removed on Wednesday by police and were detained after they along with other leaders staged a sit-in at the roundabout near Shangri-La hotel in central Delhi. Gandhi and other MPs and leaders were headed in buses to the Jantar Mantar protest site after they were stopped by the police from proceeding further. They staged a sit in at the roundabout itself, with Priyanka Gandhi lying on the road along with other women leaders, while carrying a copy of the Constitution. Security personnel gathered in large numbers at the site and they first forcibly removed Rahul Gandhi, and put him inside a police bus after carrying him on their shoulders. Some of the Congress leaders including Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Udai Bhanu Chib alighted atop the bus carrying Rahul Gandhi, while Mumtaz Patel sat on its bonnet. A large posse of women police personnel then started removing Priyanka Gandhi and other women
Opposition MPs of the INDIA bloc decided to hold a sit-in at Jantar Mantar on Wednesday to raise the issue of 'vote chori' and seek the ouster of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, a day after their eight-hour dharna to press for a meeting with election commissioners. A large number of MPs of opposition parties got together for lunch at a restaurant at Janpath in central Delhi hosted by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, after which they boarded buses and headed towards Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site in central Delhi. "Today, we feel that we will protest at Jantar Mantar, which is a designated protest site, and tell the country that for us Gyanesh Kumar is not a legitimate Election Commissioner," Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi told reporters. The opposition MPs said they were all united in their fight against this government and will raise the people's issues and "how their rights were being taken away" by protesting on the streets. "As I said
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday demanded dissolving the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies, saying that all the elections were illegal and even Prime Minister Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Ministers of all the states were illegal. He said fresh polls should be conducted on ballot papers. "Today, the entire country is being run on illegal elections. Modi is an illegal Prime Minister, Shah is an illegal minister, and all the chief ministers who have been elected anywhere are illegal. All of them should be dissolved, elections should be held, and elections should be conducted through ballot papers," he told reporters here. Kharge alleged that the EVMs were being misused and said that "their own people" are saying this. He alleged that the ongoing SIR of the electoral roll has many irregularities and is undermining democracy, pointing out that the government is making many mistakes in the process. He said the opposition would continue to hold agitations across
INDIA bloc on Wednesday finalised a joint action plan over the SIR row, including holding rallies and 'save democracy marches', with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge asserting that all parties agreed that elections should be held through ballot papers instead of EVMs. The opposition grouping made the assertion after a three-and-a-half hour meeting of its leaders, including Kharge, former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav and NCP(SP) MP Supriya Sule. At a joint briefing by INDIA bloc leaders after their meeting, Kharge said the leaders have decided on a joint action plan. Kharge said the parties have decided that involving young people and NGOs, "save democracy" marches will be taken out from October 2-8 and demonstrations will be held before the district magistrate's office. On October 6, all opposition MPs will march to the Election Commission, he said. The Leaders of ..