Save Democracy March led by Rahul Gandhi draws huge crowds

 
NEW DELHI, Nov 1: India's Opposition parties led by the Indian National Congress gave a united call for removing the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, protecting democratic rights of citizens and scrapping the Special Intensive Revision which has led to the deletion of 13 crore voters from the electoral rolls. 

Thousands of Congress supporters and those from other Other Opposition parties representing I.N.D.I.A (Indian National Developemental Z inclusive Alliance) or the India bloc turned up from all parts of the country- from Punjab and Haryana in the north to Karnataka in the south, to put their weight behind the Opposition leadership and echoing their demands for a free and fair election. 

Rahul Gandhi, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said, " Removing Gyanesh Kumar is the first step to bringing the country back on track. For me, the voice of every citizen of India is more important than religion. No matter what, we will not let you destroy the Constitution."

In the same breath, he warned Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to be prepared to face legal action for manipulating votes and winning elections in an illegal way.

"This is not a country of hatred. We don't hate Narendra Modi, Amit Shah or Gyanesh Kumar. We believe in nonviolence and want to spread love and encourage brotherhood.", Rahul said.

He added, "For me, the voice of every citizen of India is more important than religion."

Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee roared and used an old English nursery rhyme ' JohnyJohny Yes Papa' to flag the point that the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was blindly obedient to the will of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and repeats all their commands parrot fashion. She warned that they will not spare Modi for wrong doings on multiple fronts. "

Mamataasserts, "Save the Constitution, save democracy. Remove BJP, save the country. This is our only slogan in days to come."

Voicing concern over the state of affairs in India, Neha Bora, the popular President of the All India Students' Association, said that the ruling regime in India snatched the votes of citizens and made them second class citizens and outsiders. " They lined up poor labourers and tribals and asked them to show proof of citizenship."

Congress President MallikarjunKharge said, " Even if Gyanesh Kumar goes underground, we will get him.  "Modi kohatao, loktantrabacho" (Remove Modi and save democracy, "said Kharge.

Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav who was cheered loudly by the crowd, said, "This public support is enough to show that change is coming. People of Uttar Pradesh are very welcoming but they give a manifold better send off."

Akhilesh Yadav who is based in Lucknow, the Captial of India's largest State Uttar Pradesh, further said that the youth of the country never forget how the police beat them up with batons on the streets of Delhi for taking part in a protest. 

Many veteran leaders including Congress Members of Parliament Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, INC President MallikarjunKharge, former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, former Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, Samajwadi Party leader and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav, former Lok Sabha Member of Parliament from Phillaur in Punjab, Santosh Chowdhury attended the protest rally.

Abdul Bari, a 58-yearold bakery shop owner who travelled nearly 200 kilometre from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh to the memorial Capital, told this correspondent, "I have been a Congress supporter since childhood. We want to save the Construction. We want to preserve communal harmony and save the country from forces that are trying to divide the country on religious lines."

Shiva Murthy Kuri, Congress worker from Bellary Vijaynagar district in Karnataka says students and women are not safe in BJP regime. He said that ECI Gyanesh Kumar should be removed.

"In Karnataka, nearly one crore voters names have been deleted," a political activist from Bellary district in Karnataka said.