The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Tuesday took a jibe at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, urging him to clarify his stand on the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise in Tamil Nadu.
DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai, in a post on X, further questioned why Rahul had not “endorsed” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's stand asking for the “dissolution” of all state governments elected after SIR began. He wondered if the Congress MP was too “afraid of Vijay” to speak about SIR in Tamil Nadu.
The remarks came even as the Opposition INDIA bloc MPs, including Rahul, who is leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, marched to the Election Commission office. The Opposition leaders are protesting against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the SIR being conducted by the poll body.
{{/usCountry}}The remarks came even as the Opposition INDIA bloc MPs, including Rahul, who is leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, marched to the Election Commission office. The Opposition leaders are protesting against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the SIR being conducted by the poll body.
{{/usCountry}}Deep Dive
What is the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise in Tamil Nadu?
Why are the Opposition MPs protesting against CEC Gyanesh Kumar?
How did Rahul Gandhi demonstrate during the protest march to the Election Commission?
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What did the DMK spokesperson say?
In a post on his official X handle, Annadurai said, “What’s the stand of @RahulGandhi with regard to the deletions through SIR in TN. Why is he not endorsing Kharge jis statement that all State Governments elected after SIR should be dissolved?”
He further added, “Is he afraid of@actorvijay to speak about SIR in Tamil Nadu? What a duplicitous man!”
‘Entire country being run on illegal elections’: What Kharge said
Kharge, who is the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, claimed the “entire country was being run on illegal elections”, PTI news agency reported. “Modi is an illegal Prime Minister, Shah is an illegal minister, and all the chief ministers who have been elected anywhere are illegal. All of them should be dissolved, elections should be held, and elections should be conducted through ballot papers,” he had said on Saturday (October 3).
The Congress president also alleged that the ongoing SIR of the electoral roll had many irregularities and was undermining democracy, according to the PTI report. Responding to Kharge's remarks, the BJP demanded that he apologise for insulting the mandate of the people.
“Are you illegal MP Kharge ji? Is Rahul Gandhi ji an illegal MP? Are Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Keralam, Punjab, J-K, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand illegal?” Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju questioned.
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High drama amid INDIA bloc's march to ECI
High drama unfolded on Tuesday as INDIA bloc leaders marched from Parliament Street to the Election Commission. Several opposition leaders, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Trinamool Congress MPs Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O'Brien, were briefly detained after police stopped the march.
Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi were stopped by cops on Parliament Street in front of the Akashvani Bhawan and the Niti Aayog office during their march to demand the CEC's resignation. After being stopped, the opposition leaders sat in protest. Soon after, Rahul climbed the police barricades and waved the Tricolour. Rahul and Priyanka, along with other opposition leaders, then entered the Akashvani premises and were seen sitting there.
The Lok Sabha LoP questioned the Election Commission for refusing to meet with the opposition leaders. In a post on X, he said, “More than 300 Opposition MPs marched from Parliament to the Election Commission today to meet the Election Commissioners. We represent crores of Indians. - Why aren't the Election Commissioners meeting us?” Congress leader Pawan Khera said the poll body office was “hardly 100 meters” from the Akashvani Bhawan. “The Election Commission is right next door, but they are not allowing the country's Leader of the Opposition to go; he has been stopped,” ANI cited Khera as saying.
However, EC officials on Tuesday said the poll body had not received any request from any political party for a meeting, PTI reported.