New Delhi: Thousands took to the streets of the national capital on Sunday (November 1) as a united opposition INDIA bloc staged a massive show of strength for its “Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao” rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan demanding chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over the conduct of the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

While the call for the protest of the opposition parties led by leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was to demand Kumar’s ouster, the leaders in their speeches targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, with Gandhi promising legal action against the two.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the other accused the Congress of “rubbing salt into the wounds” of the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, with Shah himself alleging that “orders had come from abroad” to hold the rally on its anniversary.

“Amit Shah said Narendra Modi is not going anywhere. I am telling you the opposite – Narendra Modi cannot go anywhere. Even if he wants to leave, we will not let him go. After Gyanesh Kumar, we are going to stand right in front of you. Legal action will be taken against you for the vote chori [theft] that you have done,” said Gandhi in his speech to a packed Ramlila Maidan.

“The country will get justice. The country will ask for justice for vote theft for Adani, don’t think of escaping. You cannot escape, and … you, Amit Shah and Gyanesh Kumar will face legal action.”

The rally at Ramlila Maidan saw one of the largest cadre mobilisations by a united opposition, forming a sea of flags of the Congress, its student wing the National Students’ Union of India, the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), and Left parties including the Communist Party of India (CPI), CPI (Marxist) and CPI (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, with other INDIA bloc leaders, proceeds in an open bus to stage a march from Minto Bridge to Ramlila Maidan. Photo: PTI/Ravi Choudhary.

While the Congress and the opposition have faced criticism for being unable to mobilise their cadre in the Modi years, the streets of........

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