INDIA Alliance’ 5 Demands To Election Commission
Leaders of the Opposition’s INDIA alliance have assembled at Delhi’s historic Ramlila Maidan for the ‘Lokentra Bachao’ (save democracy) rally on Sunday. The rally, seen as a show of strength and unity by INDIA bloc members ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, recorded massive presence of the general public.
The grand alliance of the Opposition parties had announced this rally after Delhi chief minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, whose party is a constituent of the bloc, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on the alleged Delhi liquor scam case.
The rally put forward five demands to the Election Commission of India:
1. The Election Commission of India (ECI) must ensure a level playing field in Lok Sabha elections.
2. The ECI must stop the coercive action by IT, ED and CBI against opposition political parties aimed at manipulating the elections.
3. The immediate release of Sh. Hemant Soren and Sh. Arvind Kejriwal.
4. The coercive action to financially strangulate political parties in the Opposition during the elections must stop immediately.
5. An SIT, supervised by the Supreme Court must be instituted to investigate the allegations of quid pro quo, extortion and money laundering by BJP using the Electoral Bonds.
A statement from that alliance said “despite the undemocratic roadblocks created by BJP regime, the INDIA alliance is determined and confident to fight and win and save our democracy.”.
Among the leaders present on the occasion included Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former president Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, Jharkhand chief minister Champai Soren, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, CPI leader D Raja, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, TMC leader Derek O’Brein, CPI(ML) leader Dipankar Bhattacharya, DMK leader Tiruchi Shiva, wife of Hemant Soren Kalpana Soren, wife of Arvind Kejriwal Sunita Kejriwal and others.
