Days after a mega rally at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan, the opposition INDIA Bloc is set to begin the second phase of the protest against the special intensive revision (SIR) and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, with a more decentralised campaign in states.
The Congress-led opposition is planning to continue the protest in the streets along with raising it in Parliament in the upcoming Winter Session.
A 'Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao ' rally was organised in Kerala's Kozhikode DCC under Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal's leadership on Saturday as part of the nationwide campaign.
Venugopal, in a post on X, said, "Braving torrential rain, tens of thousands came out to send a strong warning to the Modi government against vote chori and its authoritarian politics."
On November 5, the leaders of the INDIA bloc also held a state-level protest rally at Freedom Park in Bengaluru, demanding immediate resignation of CEC Kumar. The workers of the Opposition bloc walked with a handcuffed man donning a mask with the CEC's face.
According to a report by Hindustan Times, a senior Rajya Sabha MP from Congress said that the campaign against the CEC is being seen as an opportunity for outreach to the masses in the states that are going to poll next year. The campaign will help in galvanising state and district-level cadres ahead of polls.
"The outreach will not only embolden our campaign but also provide tasks to our grassroots-level organisation. It will help us understand our organisational strength across states and various districts," he was quoted as saying.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary MA Baby also confirmed to the aforementioned outlet that the opposition has decided to take the protest down to the district level. "We have felt there is an urgent need to take the issue to the states, down to the district level," he was quoted as saying.