CNN Central News & Networks / ITDC India ePress / ITDC News /Agencies/ Delhi: New Delhi: Political activity intensified in Delhi on November 1. On one side, the INDIA bloc held a mega rally at Ramlila Maidan over the special intensive revision (SIR) of the voter list and the issue of alleged vote theft, while on the other, the Bharatiya Janata Party staged a counter-protest by taking out a padyatra against the Congress. The election process, democracy and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots were at the centre of both events.
Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav and other opposition leaders attended the opposition rally at Ramlila Maidan. Questioning the functioning of the Election Commission, the alliance demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Opposition leaders alleged that voting rights were being affected through irregularities in the voter list. The official position of the Election Commission and the parties concerned on these allegations is also significant.
At the same time, the BJP took out a padyatra in west Delhi. Led by Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, the march began from Hari Nagar bus depot and reached Tilak Nagar Metro station. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, state BJP president Harsh Malhotra and other party leaders took part. BJP leaders remembered the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and demanded that the Congress apologise. The BJP alleged that by holding a rally on the anniversary of the riots, the Congress had ignored the sentiments of the victims.
Meanwhile, BJP national president Nitin Naveen led a padyatra in Rohtak, Haryana, under the ‘Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy’ campaign. The party described it as part of a nationwide public outreach campaign in response to the opposition’s allegations.
These programmes held on the same day once again brought to the fore the continuing debate in Delhi and national politics over electoral transparency, historical events and political accountability.
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