Centre shielding Gyanesh Kumar but CEC is losing sleep: Rahul ahead of INDIA bloc march

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused the Centre of “protecting” the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, while questioning huge security curbs in the national capital, in view of the demonstration and protests by the opposition parties.

Addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi, Gandhi said, “The protest against Gyanesh Kumar, the Election Commission and vote theft has been underway in Delhi for the past four to five days. Resistance has existed for 10–12–13 years, but now it is crystallising.”

Rahul’s presser comes ahead of INDIA bloc’s planned march towards the Supreme Court in protest against the Election Commission of India (ECI) and demanding the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar over the controversy surrounding the Special Intensive Review (SIR) of the electoral rolls.

Raising concerns over the curbs imposed in the city in view of the protests, the LoP said, “The question is, why is Delhi, the capital city of India, under siege? People are being stopped from reaching Delhi. Trains and buses are being stopped, and people are being asked to get off. Delhi has been turned into a fortress, with police deployed everywhere, around 20,000 to 30,000 personnel.”

“You might think this is a show of power, but our strategy is different. We want 20,000 to 30,000 police personnel standing on the streets. And the government is making a big mistake by doing this. We want to show the nation that the government, Narendra Modi, is protecting Gyanesh Kumar. We want them (the government) to protect him (CEC), because then we will ultimately reach his controller,” he added.

Gandhi further claimed that the police personnel themselves are “deeply disturbed” and are questioning “why they are being made to beat the youth of India”.

“Questions are being raised within the Home Ministry, Delhi Police, CRPF and ITBP about why they are being asked to stop young people, while RSS members are being allowed to move around freely. BJP and RSS goons are beating women. On the one hand, the police are being told to beat patriotic Indian youth and fire pellet guns at them, while on the other hand, they are being told to let these RSS youths, whom he describes as criminals and gangsters, go free and allow them to beat other young people,” he said.

“This is benefiting us a lot. I can tell you with happiness that 50 per cent of the police personnel are telling us, ‘What you are doing is right; keep going’. The police, ITBP, CRPF, the people of India, all of you and all opposition parties are on one side while Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Ajit Doval, Gyanesh Kumar and four or five people in the Election Commission, who are facilitating vote theft and have hijacked India, are on the other side. We are continuing to widen this divide,” the LoP added.

Why is Gyanesh Kumar not resigning? Gandhi asked, adding, “the CEC is not able to sleep at night. But don’t worry, we are not going to let you be. You will not survive as the CEC.”

“The entire situation is unfolding now, with lakhs of people questioning your conduct and behaviour, will not stop. Why will it not stop? Because there are people ahead of you, and to reach them, we have to remove you. So, don’t worry. We have information about you. We know your past. We understand all your corruption, and we have evidence,” he added.