INDIA bloc march to SC: Rahul-Priyanka

New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi did not visit Jantar Mantar, where Neha Bora and other AISA activists sat on an indefinite hunger strike amid the first CJP stir. But on Monday, as the INDIA bloc marched towards the Supreme Court, Bora walked alongside Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, with Rahul close behind, shielding the two women as they made their way through the crush of protesters and cameras.

The march was over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the alleged large-scale deletions of voters. The Opposition has been demanding a halt to the exercise and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accusing the Election Commission of facilitating“vote chori”.

Rahul Gandhi and senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi later filed a petition before the Supreme Court on behalf of the Opposition in the evening.

The march had a visible impact on central Delhi, where traffic crawled along the stretch from the Constitution Club towards the Supreme Court as protesters gathered at different points, raising slogans and waving flags. Posters reading “Vote Chor, Gaddi Chor” were held along the route, while chants rang out from groups gathered along the streets.

Opposition MPs initially travelled in Volvo buses from the Constitution Club, before getting off near Barakhamba Road to continue on foot. As the crowd thickened around the procession, the leaders struggled to make their way through the packed streets.

The march brought together leaders from across the INDIA bloc, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Shashi Tharoor, Sachin Pilot and Mukul Wasnik. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, CPI’s D Raja, CPI(M)’s M A Baby, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sanjay Raut, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar)’s Supriya Sule and TMC’s Sagarika Ghosh were also present, alongside civil society activist Yogendra Yadav and Bora.

Despite the political differences between their parties, there was considerable bonhomie among the leaders as they walked and chatted along the route. “This is beyond party lines. We have all come together to save democracy,” CPI leader Annie Raja told ThePrint.

Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who walked with his supporters, put the issue at the heart of the protest in a brief remark to ThePrint: “The right to vote is right to live.”

The crush of the crowd was also evident in the shoes left scattered along the roadside. Some protesters lost their footwear as people pushed through the packed stretches, while some others with injured feet continued walking barefoot.

Several good Samaritans bought packs of ice cream and distributed them among protesters, while volunteers handed out bananas and other fruits.

Congress Seva Dal workers moved between different points along the route, distributing water to those who had spent hours on the streets. There were several Seva Dal trucks on the road as well.

Flags of several opposition parties, including the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, rose at several places on the way, but the Tricolour was the most conspicuous of them all, visible above the party flags as the march wound through central Delhi.

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