'Vote chori': INDIA bloc MPs march to Election Commission headquarters in 'Save Democracy' protest

The opposition's charge of 'vote chori' reached the gates of the institution it accuses on Monday, as every Member of Parliament of the INDIA bloc marched to the Election Commission of India's headquarters in New Delhi demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The march, part of a month-long 'Save Democracy' agitation announced on September 30, marks the sharpest escalation yet in the opposition's confrontation with the poll panel over alleged manipulation of voter lists. The plan was finalised at a three-and-a-half-hour meeting of 19 opposition parties at the Constitution Club in the capital, where Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge announced a six-point action plan: 'save democracy' marches at every district magistrate's office from October 2 to October 8, the MPs' march to the Commission on October 6, five joint rallies across states, a mega rally in Delhi on November 1, and a delegation to President Droupadi Murmu. 'We are going to ensure that the people who have destroyed Indian democracy are punished,' Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said after the meeting. The trigger is a report that the Commission pushed large-scale voter-list changes during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) despite objections from two election commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, who questioned the process. The opposition alleges the rolls were manipulated to benefit the BJP; the Commission rejects the charge, saying differences of view are normal in any institution and all its actions were lawful. In Bihar, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has announced 'Akrosh March' demonstrations at block level on October 7 and district level on October 8, including a march to the Governor's House in Patna to submit a memorandum against the CEC. Yadav alleged lakhs of genuine voters were deleted during the SIR in Bihar and West Bengal, calling the exercise 'fraudulent'. The Congress said it would reach out to parties outside the INDIA bloc, including the DMK and the AAP, to join the planned protest march in Delhi, and security was heightened around the Commission's headquarters ahead of the demonstration. A youth protest movement, whose agitation led to the education minister's resignation in July, has also demanded the CEC's resignation and called a protest of its own. With the BJP dismissing the campaign as political theatre and the Supreme Court simultaneously asking the Commission to produce records on the Form 6 controversy, the fight over the voter list has moved from backrooms to the streets. What the opposition does in the coming month, and how the court answers its questions, may set the tone for every election that follows.