New Delhi: A huge turnout of people marked the Congress’ mega rally today against the vote chori by the Bharatiya Janata Party in collusion with the Election Commission of India. Congress workers from different parts of the country converged on the historic Ramlila Maidan to register their protest against vote chori, with the sky reverberating with the slogans of ‘vote chor, gaddi chhod’.
While the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that the country will not be run by the BJP-RSS ideology or Manusmriti but by the Constitution, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said that there was ‘vote chori’ DNA in the BJP and that of truth and non-violence in the Congress.
Addressing the massive rally, Kharge said that the BJP and the RSS want to take the country back to the days of Manu and want to push the poor and downtrodden into slavery. He said this country can be run only by the Congress ideology that follows the Constitution and not that of Mohan Bhagwat, Golwalkar or Manusmriti. Warning that the BJP was trying to gradually finish the Constitution, he alleged that they were trying to exploit and mislead people in the name of Hindutva.
Criticising the BJP leaders for questioning Rahul Gandhi’s trip abroad after the Parliament session, Kharge pointed out that Modi does not attend Parliament even while being in the country. He pointed out that he had not answered a single question posed to him by Rahul in Parliament.
Speaking on the occasion, Rahul Gandhi quoted RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s recent statement, wherein he had said that eventually it is power and not truth that matters. Gandhi noted that this was the ideology that was driving the BJP, as nothing else matters to them except power. But, he added, this country runs on the philosophy of Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram and Satyameva Jayate. He declared that eventually the Congress will throw away and defeat Modi and his BJP with truth and non-violence.
The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha declared today that the protection provided to the Election Commissioners by the Modi government by making a law that gives them immunity will be scrapped with retrospective effect. He specifically named Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Election Commissioners Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, saying that the protection they enjoy right now will be withdrawn and they will be held to account.
Gandhi pointed out that despite raising serious questions with proof and evidence, the Election Commission had not answered any of his questions. He pointed out how a Brazilian lady’s photo appeared 22 times in the Haryana voters’ list and how one lady’s photo appeared 200 times in a single booth in the same state. Pointing towards the people from Haryana attending the rally, he said the election had been stolen from them by voter manipulation.
Rahul Gandhi disclosed that now the BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, had realised that their act of stealing the votes had been caught, so their confidence had shaken. He referred to Amit Shah’s trembling hands while replying to his questions during the Lok Sabha debate. He said BJP leaders’ confidence and courage come only from power, which they have captured after stealing the votes.
“It may take some time, but in the end, it will be the victory of truth,” the senior Congress leader declared, telling Modi and Shah, “give as many speeches as you want to, ultimately it will be the victory of truth… we will defeat you with truth and non-violence,” he added.
Addressing the rally, the Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra mentioned that the confidence of the Prime Minister and other BJP leaders had gone down and they were visibly shaken, as they had found the ground beneath their feet slipping away. She said they were trying to trample upon constitutional institutions like the judiciary, media, Parliament and the Election Commission. She pointed out that the entire media was owned either by Adani or Ambani, both Modi’s friends.
Those present on the occasion included Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Smt Sonia Gandhi, Congress general secretary in charge (organisation) K C Venugopal, senior party leaders, Chief Ministers, PCC presidents, CLP leaders, MPs and others.