More than 60 representatives of the INDIA bloc from Manipur will participate in the “Vote Kallo, Leibak Kallo” (Save the Vote, Save the Nation) rally at Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi, on November 1, demanding accountability over alleged electoral malpractice and the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
In a press statement, Kshetrimayum Santa, Convener of the INDIA bloc in Manipur, accused the BJP-led NDA government of repeatedly undermining democratic institutions through alleged manipulation of electoral processes in various state elections.
The nationwide rally is being organised to protest what the opposition alliance describes as systematic theft of electoral mandates and growing threats to democratic institutions. The demand for the removal of Gyanesh Kumar is also a key focus of the protest.
Senior opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, M.A. Baby, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav and Dipankar Bhattacharya, are among those expected to address the gathering. Representatives of farmers’, workers’, women’s, student and youth organisations are also expected to participate.
Leading the Manipur delegation, former Chief Minister and MPCC president Okram Ibobi Singh, Congress Legislature Party leader Keisham Meghachandra Singh and Kshetrimayum Santa, who is also CPI(M) Manipur secretary, left Imphal for Delhi today. Several other INDIA bloc leaders from the state are scheduled to join them.