'Vote chori' protest: 300 I.N.D.I.A. bloc MPs to march to EC office against SIR on August 11

New Delhi: I.N.D.I.A. bloc MPs led by Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will march from Parliament to the Election Commission on Monday protesting against ‘vote chori’ (vote theft) through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The I.N.D.I.A. Parliamentary floor leaders will also seek a meeting with the Election Commissioners.

Later on Monday, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, who is also the Congress president, will host a dinner for I.N.D.I.A. MPs, days after Rahul hosted one for top leaders of the Opposition bloc.

Sources said the I.N.D.I.A. MPs will start their march from Parliament at around 11:30 am and around 300 MPs are expected to participate in the protest march, which comes days after Rahul accused the EC of colluding with the BJP and cited his party's analysis on Mahadevapura Assembly seat in Karnataka where he claimed around one lakh votes were stolen.

After the march, sources said, the leaders have sought a meeting with the EC. The march to the 'Nirvachan Sadan', barely 2 km from the Parliament, is one of the first joint programmes outside Parliament since the Lok Sabha election results in June last year.

The MPs will be holding placards and posters in different Indian languages on ‘vote chori’. AAP is also expected to join the protest, with the I.N.D.I.A. leadership deciding not to brand it as an “I.N.D.I.A. march” but an Opposition march.

The Opposition MPs have been protesting against the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar and other states, which they call an exercise in 'vote chori', and disrupting the proceedings of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

The initial plan was to hold the protest march on August 8 but was rescheduled following the death of JMM patriarch Shibu Soren earlier last week.

The Opposition is keen that their attention is not diverted from the ‘vote chori’ issue and has resisted temptations to take up other issues. The SIR issue has brought almost all Opposition parties on the same page.

The leaders were appreciative of Rahul’s press conference last Thursday and it was reflected in their interactions with the Congress leader when he hosted a dinner for them. The issue has also brought Congress and Trinamool Congress closer, with Abhishek Banerjee being seen in an intense conversation with Rahul during the dinner.