INDIA bloc eyes momentum for Ramlila rally with ‘public impeachment’ of CEC Kumar

Preparations are on full swing at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s 10, Rajaji Marg residence, where the Opposition’s INDIA bloc will host a “public impeachment” of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at 3.30 pm on Friday (October 30).

On Thursday morning, as arrangements were being made to host a gathering of over 200 people, including MPs from the INDIA bloc, civil society and student groups, as well as several citizens struck off voter lists during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), and members of the Opposition coalition met at Kharge’s residence to finalise the blueprint of the “impeachment proceedings”.

Why ‘public impeachment’ and not ‘mock Parliament’

CPM MP John Brittas told reporters that the proceedings will be presided over by former Lok Sabha Speaker and Congress veteran Meira Kumar but will not replicate the formal setting of a parliamentary proceeding of impeachment. Brittas said while Kharge will open the proceedings by laying out the public’s “impeachment chargesheet” against the CEC, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi will speak at the end, possibly summing up the discussion with a “people’s call” to sack Kumar.

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Sources in the INDIA bloc said the alliance leaders opted to call the event a “public impeachment” to stress on the lack of people’s faith in the Kumar-led poll panel and the SIR exercise while avoiding any criticism of “mocking Parliament”.

Invitations sent to civil society groups and voters disenfranchised by the SIR to share their testimonies during the discussion also mention “public impeachment” instead of “mock Parliament” or “mock impeachment” to blunt any counter-offensive from the BJP and its allies who are sure to liken the Opposition event with an insult to Parliament or a sign of the INDIA bloc’s lack of trust in the highest seat of India’s democracy. To avoid any comparison with Parliament proceedings, the event will have no Opposition MP enacting Treasury bench MPs though the proceedings are expected to be high on attacks directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Friday’s agenda

A senior INDIA bloc leader told The Federal Kharge’s chargesheet is expected to be a reiteration of points outlined by INDIA bloc MPs in their formal notice of impeachment against the CEC, which has been pending approval of Rajya Sabha Vice Chairman CP Radhakrishnan since April, and will also include references to other damning revelations made by various media reports subsequently about alleged lapses and illegalities in the SIR process.

A people’s impeachment chargesheet, prepared by activists Anjali Bhardwaj, Nikhil Dey, Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, among others, as well as experiences of ordinary voters shared during public hearings by an “independent commission” constituted by a lawyers’ body and headed by former Supreme Court judge, Madan Lokur, will also be discussed by the Opposition leaders and others invited to the event, said sources.

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A Congress leader involved with the arrangements for the event said invitations have also been extended to some individuals who had shared their SIR-related ordeals with Rahul Gandhi during his various interactions, the most recent being at a camp organized in Delhi’s Trilokpuri, with groups of disenfranchised voters. “They have been called, they will also share their testimony,” the leader said.

Why venue is Kharge’s home

The INDIA bloc had initially planned to host the “public impeachment” at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, where the alliance will also be conducting a massive protest rally on November 1. Congress MP and AICC organisation in-charge KC Venugopal alleged that the Delhi Police denied permission for the impeachment event though the party, on behalf of the INDIA bloc, had booked the Ramlila Maidan from October 25 till November 3. The party then sought a booking at The Ashok Hotel, but this too, Venugopal claims, was denied under pressure from the Centre.

Congress sources say the party leaders had then tried to book various other venues, including the Mavalankar Hall, Talkatora Stadium and the Ambedkar International Centre, to host the public impeachment but were denied bookings under one pretext or another. It was then that Kharge agreed to host the gathering at his official residence.

While Friday’s event will have a limited gathering due to space constraints at the venue and see a relatively restrained broadside at the Centre and the poll panel, the INDIA bloc leadership hopes to put up an aggressive show of unity and resistance at the November 1 Ramlila Maidan rally.

Precursor to ‘Chalo Dilli’

The Congress high command has set a target of mobilizing a “Chalo Dilli” march of a million people from Delhi and adjoining states for the November 1 jamboree. Late Thursday evening, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi visited the Ramlila Maidan to take stock of preparations for the rally. Earlier in the day, Rahul issued a video appeal to “everyone tired of Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Gyanesh Kumar, everyone who wants to protect democracy and the Constitution… all student groups, regardless of your political affiliation” to participate in the Chalo Dilli Ramlila March.

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“Don’t worry about the police, don’t worry about lathis. The BJP will not have the guts to try any of their antics. Come march with us, we will walk together to protect the Constitution, to protect the Indian nation... It will be a fantastic march, and it's a march for the soul of this country,” Rahul said.

Other alliance partners, particularly the Samajwadi Party, the Left parties and their student wings, as well as civil society groups have also assured the Congress of massive mobilization for the rally. Abhijeet Dipke’s Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), which had so far refrained from publicly associating with the anti-SIR/anti-Gyanesh Kumar protests being steered by the Congress, too, decided to extend “support to the INDIA bloc’s November 1 rally” on Wednesday, claiming it would “support all organisations fighting for free and fair elections”.