The BJP on Monday termed the Opposition political parties’ protest march towards the Election Commission of India’s office as ‘anti-democratic’, while the protesting MPs said it was their constitutional right and a movement to safeguard democracy.
The Opposition parties are protesting against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar while alleging large-scale voter fraud during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra, and Assembly polls in Karnataka.
The ruling BJP has hit back, calling the march “anti-democratic” and “meaningless.”
The protest march, which saw participation from top Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav, and several Congress MPs, aimed to raise concerns over what the Opposition has termed “vote theft” and “manipulation of electoral rolls.”
The BJP dismissed the allegations, accusing them of creating chaos to mask their political irrelevance. BJP National General Secretary, Arun Singh, said the protest undermined democratic norms.
“The conduct of the Congress and other Opposition MPs is essentially anti-democratic. Important issues can be raised in Zero Hour and Question Hour in Parliament, but they have wasted that time. Under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, the nation is progressing on every front. Instead of contributing constructively in the House, they are staging spectacles on the streets,” Singh said.
BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi also dismissed the protest march of the Opposition parties.
“This protest is meaningless. Demonstrations are justified when demands are ignored, but the Election Commission — a constitutional body — was willing to meet them and had even given them an appointment at 12 P.M. today,” she said.
Union Minister of State Satish Chandra Dubey also reacted and accused the Opposition of creating controversies.
“From 1990 to 2005, they ruled Bihar and turned it into a ‘jungle raj’. Now they think creating noise will help them regain lost ground. But the public is watching and won’t be misled,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Opposition parties, including AAP, remained defiant, accusing the ECI of failing in its constitutional duties. Earlier, the Delhi Police detained the protesting leaders, including LoP Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Trinamool Congress’ Sagarika Ghose and Shiv Sena (UBT’s) Sanjay Raut, along with others, who were en route to the ECI office.