HighLights
  1. INDIA bloc rallied against electoral roll irregularities.
  2. Protesters wore unique costumes like Batman, Spiderman.
  3. Rahul Gandhi accused CEC of facilitating vote theft.

The INDIA bloc on Sunday held a mega rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan against alleged irregularities in electoral rolls and the Special Intensive Revision exercise, which not only saw top Opposition leaders, but supporters dress as Batman, Spiderman, cockroaches and so on.

The 'Chalo Dilli March' began including the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress president, Mallikarjun Kharge, former West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party chief, Akhilesh Yadav. The march started from the Minto Road-Connaught Place junction towards Ramlila Maidan, where thousands of supporters converged. But the crowd was filled with some party workers dressed as superheroes, some famous icons, and some dressed in colourful clothes.

The Inner Circle of Connaught Place was crowded with students, activists, political groups from across the country and even ordinary people, carrying placards and chanting slogans.

A 38-year-old Rakesh Solanki, dressed in a cockroach costume, came from Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun. He said, “We are here to ensure the chief election commissioner resigns.”

Another 21-year-old college student from Mumbai, who introduced himself as ‘Takshroach’, said he was wearing a full cockroach costume, reported HT. “I came dressed as a bat on October 10. I order these costumes so I get noticed and can convey what I have come for. To believe in the electoral process is extremely important, and that faith needs to be restored,” he said.

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A Chhattisgarh Adiwasi Congress supporter identified as Ramayan Singh Rathiya was seen wearing a bright orange dress. He said, “My troop and I, around 200 of us, have come to represent our traditions and our people. We reached Delhi yesterday and have been preparing for the dance for a week.”

Another was seen depicting Angulimala, an important figure in Buddhism, who wore a garland of his victims’ fingers before the Buddha’s message changed his life.

He wore a garland of plastic fingers symbolising fingers that will not be able to press the EVM button since their owners’ names had been deleted from the rolls.

Jonathan, a Class VI student told the Telegraph that he had come with his mother, holding a placard that read, “Dear bhaiyas & didis, I can’t vote yet, but this is my future too.”

Ankur, a man in his mid-40s, wore a black-and-golden crown with two white horns sticking out of it. He referred to himself as “kaal” (fate or nemesis) and came to punish those causing problems in the country, including vote theft.

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He said this was what he had worn to a Halloween party on Friday. He had brought along his pre-teen school-going daughter, convinced that children should know what was going on in the country.

One was seen wearing a tee with "Andhbhakt" (blind follower) written on it. Another protester displayed a soft toy monkey with “56 inch” written on it. Some carried Che Guevara banners, and some held up placards saying “Vote chor, gaddi chhod” and “Vote bachao, desh bachao.”

Wearing a Batman mask, Pramod Pandey, 45, stood at Minto Road. He is the organising secretary of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee and had come from Kolkata. “My sister-in-law’s name was deleted from the voter list,” he said when asked for the reason for his participation.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of facilitating alleged vote theft and said he would be removed from his post and jailed.

Rahul Gandhi said the protest represented the voice of the country and was not associated with any particular political party or leader. He accused the CEC of attempting to silence the voice of the nation and asserted that the Opposition would continue its fight to protect the Constitution through peaceful and democratic means.

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He claimed that action would be taken against the CEC and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah would not have reached their respective positions without him.

 


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