INDIA bloc meets President

A delegation of INDIA bloc leaders led by Congress met President Droupadi Murmu on Friday evening and handed over a memorandum to her on alleged “vote chori”, with Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi saying he was shocked that the President did not deny the ‘election theft’ charge and “accepted” what the opposition leaders stated.

President Murmu sought proof of ‘vote chori’ from the leaders. The INDIA bloc will hand over the evidence it has to her when she is ready to accept it, Rahul Gandhi said, briefing the media after the delegation comprising him, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, NCP (SP) Supriya Sule, SP’s Rajeev Rai, RJD’s Manoj Jha, VCK chief Thol. Thirumavalavan, CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby and CPI’s D Raja met her.

The former Congress chief also said the opposition leaders would meet Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Monday and hand him a memorandum as well.

Carrying a big “Save Democracy” banner, INDIA bloc MPs marched from Parliament House to Vijay Chowk, where they were stopped by the police, who had put up barricades.

After that, the delegation, whose names had been sent to Rashtrapati Bhawan, headed to meet President Murmu to hand over a memorandum on the “vote chori” issue.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Kharge said the INDIA bloc leaders sought a return to ballot paper instead of EVMs for future polls. “The President asked for evidence of ‘vote chori’ which we will provide,” he said.

Rahul said the INDIA bloc’s memorandum to the president clearly stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar have “conspired to destroy Indian democracy”.

“The President in no way denied what we said; she did not question what we said... she accepted our statement and sought proof of ‘election chori’,” the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.

Rahul said he told the president that the country knows proof of ‘election chori’, as state after state has been “stolen”. “We will happily take proof of ‘election chori’ to the President when she is ready to accept it,” said Rahul.

“I actually expected the President of India to deny that ‘vote chori’ is taking place; I expected the President of India to say ‘no, actually, India has a free and fair election system’. I was shocked, and I was stunned that the President of India accepted what we said,” he said.

Banerjee said the INDIA bloc is together and is strong, and she thought the meeting was positive.

Earlier, INDIA bloc MPs met at the Central Hall of the Samvidhan Sadan and deliberated on their strategy to take forward their plan for agitation against alleged “vote chori” and to press for the ouster of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Kharge, Gandhi, Congress chief ministers DK Shivakumar (Karnataka) and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh), as well as other INDIA bloc leaders -- Banerjee, Sule, Basheer, Baby, Raja, Samajwadi Party’s Rajeev Rai and Mohibullah Nadvi, Independent MPs Kapil Sibal and Pappu Yadav, among others, attended the meeting.

Last week, the INDIA bloc finalised a joint action plan on the SIR row, including holding rallies and “save democracy” marches.

The INDIA bloc leaders on Thursday staged a sit-in at Rajghat, Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial, to highlight what they alleged was “hijacking” of the country by Prime Minister Modi, Union Home Minister Shah and the CEC through a criminal conspiracy of “vote chori.”