NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday backed youth protesters demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.The Lok Sabha leader of the opposition said he had been fighting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological mentor of the ruling BJP, for “over a decade now” and knew them “inside out, like the back of my hand.”
“The core characteristic of these people is cowardice. Narendra Modi, (Union home minister) Amit Shah, Gyanesh Kumar and (National Security Advisor) Ajit Doval are slowly finding the space closing around them. We are closing that space,” Rahul Gandhi said in a video message on X.“Mr Modi, do whatever you want. Call out all the police. Arrest all the leaders. Arrest all the young people. Arrest us all,” he added.He further claimed to have “all the information we need,” an apparent reference to proof of what he describes as “vote chori” (vote theft) by the BJP in collusion with the Election Commission.
“We are going to defend our Constitution. We are going to protect the voice of the Indian people. And we are going to ensure that what was done to India over the last 10-15 years will never, ever be done again,” the Raebareli MP further stated.“Youth of India, I am proud of you. Keep protesting. We are standing with you. We are going to ensure that this regime and the people who have attacked our Constitution are defeated,” Rahul Gandhi asserted.
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His remarks came amid a protest led by the youth pressure group Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) against CEC Gyanesh Kumar at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Saturday.Delhi Police detained more than 3,000 protesters attempting to reach the site. Over 600 people with criminal records were also detained as a preventive measure. According to police, permission for the protest had not been granted, and prohibitory orders were in force in the New Delhi area.
