Rahul Gandhi: India bloc leaders to march to Supreme Court as protests continue
India’s opposition parties are set to march to the Supreme Court in Delhi to demand the resignation of the election chief over alleged voter fraud.
This will be the latest in a series of demonstrations in Delhi, with thousands of security forces deployed and roads barricaded in the capital.
Attempts to hold a protest by the Cockroach Janata Party pressure group over the weekend led to thousands of demonstrators being detained.
Opposition parties allege that under Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, India’s voter rolls are being manipulated to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Both the Election Commission and the BJP have rejected the charge.
The opposition lawmakers want to submit a memorandum to Chief Justice Surya Kant, but he has told reporters he declined the meeting citing “certain reasons”.
He did not provide the reasons, but media reports citing the letter have said that he pointed out that some of the issues the opposition wanted to raise with him were also pending before the court. The BBC has not seen the letter.
“Every Indian citizen has the right to approach the court, and we will hear their concerns and grant whatever is due under the law,” he told reporters.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, meanwhile, has called “all opposition parties, civil society groups [and] all those who believe in democracy” to join Monday’s march.
Authorities in Delhi have announced heavy restrictions on traffic and on entry and exit at some key metro stations. There is also heavy security deployment in central Delhi and along the route of the march.
Over the past week, top opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, have been briefly detained several times while leading protests in central Delhi.
On Sunday, the CJP – which is not a registered political party – said it would continue protesting until Kumar stepped down.
The CJP, which successfully led a protest over the summer that culminated in India’s federal education minister’s resignation, had called for a march on Saturday to Jantar Mantar – the best-known protest site in Delhi where the last set of sit-in demonstrations had also happened.
But authorities in Delhi imposed overarching restrictions that made it almost impossible for protesters to travel and reach Jantar Mantar – trains were cancelled, dozens of metro stations were shut down and tens of thousands of police and paramilitary personnel were on the roads to detain protesters.
