New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the Opposition would ensure that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat are “brought to justice”, as INDIA bloc MPs continued their protest against the Election Commission for the third consecutive day.
Speaking to reporters after the second lunch meeting of Opposition MPs at Connaught Place, Gandhi said around 300 MPs from both Houses wanted to stage a peaceful protest but had been prevented from doing so for two consecutive days.
“On the first day, we were stopped outside the Election Commission. Subsequently, we expressed our desire to protest at Jantar Mantar, yet yesterday, as you witnessed, we were stopped there as well; our people were assaulted,” Gandhi alleged.
Rahul alleges criminal conspiracy
He accused Modi, Shah, Kumar and Bhagwat of having “hijacked India through a criminal conspiracy”, destroying the Constitution and “stealing votes”.
“We, the Opposition, assure you that action will be taken. They will be brought to justice. This is our guarantee. You will see these four individuals brought to justice,” Gandhi said.
Opposition heads towards Gandhi Smriti
After the lunch meeting hosted by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Gandhi and Kharge boarded a bus along with other INDIA bloc MPs and headed towards Gandhi Smriti to stage a peaceful protest.
Kharge said the Opposition would sit and pray at the Gandhi Memorial for the BJP government to “realise” that its actions were not in the national interest.
He accused the government of undermining voting rights and raised issues including alleged “vote theft”, inflation and unemployment.
Protests continue for third day
The protest came amid heightened tensions between the Opposition and the Election Commission. On Tuesday, MPs were stopped near Akashwani Bhawan while marching towards the CEC office and staged a sit-in for over seven hours before being detained.
On Wednesday, police again stopped the Opposition MPs as they headed towards Jantar Mantar following a lunch meeting, leading to a brief scuffle.
Ahead of Thursday’s meeting, a large number of NSUI workers gathered outside the venue.
