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Security arrangements have been tightened around the Election Commission headquarters in New Delhi in the wake of the protest march by the Opposition's
INDIA Bloc MPs today (October 6) against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Around 150 MPs of INDIA Bloc stakeholders will gather at Makkar Dwar at 11 am. Security has been stepped up around the Election Commission office and other sensitive areas, with personnel deployed to manage movement and avert any untoward incident.
Security Measures Taken By Delhi Police:
- Five-layer barricades have been put in place at key locations.
- Protestors will be stopped till Niti Ayog.
- No one will be allowed to cross Patel Chouk or reach Election Commission.
- Body cam has been mandatory for ACP rank and above officials.
- Tear gas shells deployed
The protest call was issued after a meeting of 19 opposition parties on September 30. The Election Commission has come under fire from opposition parties over the SIR exercise. The poll panel, however, has dismissed claims of differences within its three-member body, asserting that all decisions concerning the exercise were taken unanimously.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, and Trinamool Congress's Abhishek Banerjee are among the key leaders who are taking part in the protest march.
Opposition Parties Not Joining The Protest March:
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and MK Stalin-led DMK will not join the protest. AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on Monday said that it will not be part of the INDIA bloc's October 6 protest outside the poll body's headquarters, as the party is fighting its own battle continuously.
"As far as tomorrow's protest is concerned, it is the INDIA bloc's protest. So, the Aam Aadmi Party is not part of it. We are fighting this battle in our own way," Singh told reporters.
A political controversy surfaced following an Indian Express report claiming that Kumar took unilateral decisions, ignoring suggestions by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. The report claimed that Sandhu and Joshi had raised concerns over the deletion of names from electoral rolls and questioned the decision-making process on 14 occasions in recent months. The poll body had said differences in views and observations are a routine part of deliberations.
