New Delhi, Oct 7 (IANS): The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday staged a protest outside the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer’s office at Kashmere Gate, with Left parties and the Congress also joining the demonstration against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
Speaking to reporters, AAP Delhi President Saurabh Bharadwaj said a nationwide protest would be held on October 10, with the Jantar Mantar serving as its epicentre.
“On the 10th, there will be a nationwide protest, with Jantar Mantar as its epicentre. The call has been given by the Cockroach Janata Party. We are supporting that call. The Left parties, student wings, and various small and large organisations are supporting it, and we are also supporting it,” he said.
AAP MLA Kuldeep Kumar alleged that the BJP government was protecting Gyanesh Kumar and demanded his resignation.
“The BJP government is resorting to hooliganism. It is protecting Gyanesh Kumar. Gyanesh Kumar will have to resign. Gyanesh Kumar is a traitor to the country,” he said.
The AAP and Left parties joined the Congress in the ongoing street protest against CEC Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The joint march was planned towards the Delhi CEO’s office at Kashmere Gate.
The development comes a day after INDIA bloc MPs staged a protest march towards the Election Commission of India (ECI) headquarters in New Delhi, demanding the resignation of the CEC.
However, security personnel stopped the Opposition leaders midway. Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi climbed police barricades and waved the tricolour as security personnel prevented the INDIA bloc MPs from proceeding towards the ECI headquarters.
Rahul Gandhi, along with his sister and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, was briefly detained by the police, according to television reports.
Speaking to reporters, Rahul Gandhi said around 300 MPs from both Houses of Parliament were stopped from meeting the Election Commission.
The INDIA bloc leaders, including the Gandhi siblings, later staged a sit-in at Akashvani Bhavan, from where they were removed by police and detained on Tuesday night.
The AAP and the DMK had stayed away from the INDIA bloc’s protest on Tuesday.
Last week, the AAP and several Left-wing student organisations, including SFI and AISA, staged a protest against the CEC at Jantar Mantar, during which several protesters were detained by police.
