Congress draws massive crowd at its rally in the national capital, targets BJP and Election Commission
NEW DELHI — A massive turnout marked the Congress’ mega rally at Ramlila Maidan on Sunday, as party workers from across the country gathered to protest alleged “vote chori” by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in collusion with the Election Commission of India (ECI). The historic Ramlila ground in the national capital echoed with chants of “vote chor, gaddi chhod” as leaders mounted a sharp attack on the ruling party and constitutional authorities. It was also a show of strength from the main opposition party that would have ruffled many a feather of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah duo.
Addressing the rally, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge asserted that India would be governed by the Constitution, not by the ideology of the RSS or Manusmriti. “This country will not be run by the BJP-RSS ideology. It will be run by the Constitution,” he said, accusing the BJP and RSS of seeking to take the nation back to the era of Manu and pushing the poor and marginalised into subjugation.
Kharge alleged that the BJP was systematically undermining the Constitution under the guise of Hindutva. “They want to do away with the Constitution step by step by misleading people and exploiting religious sentiments,” he warned, adding that India could only be governed by constitutional values, not by the ideas of Golwalkar, Mohan Bhagwat or Manusmriti.
The Congress chief also hit out at BJP leaders for questioning Rahul Gandhi’s foreign travel, pointing out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi frequently skipped Parliament despite being in the country. “The prime minister has not answered a single question raised by Rahul Gandhi in Parliament,” Kharge said.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of having “vote chori in its DNA”, contrasting it with what he described as the Congress’ tradition of truth and non-violence. Quoting a recent statement by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat that “power, not truth, ultimately matters”, Gandhi said this reflected the ideology driving the BJP. “But this country runs on Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram and Satyameva Jayate,” he said, declaring that the Congress would defeat the RSS-BJP “with truth and non-violence”.
In a strong warning, Rahul Gandhi said the legal protection granted by the Modi government to Election Commissioners would be scrapped retrospectively when his party comes to power. Naming Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, he said they would be held accountable once the immunity was withdrawn.
Gandhi alleged that the Election Commission had failed to respond to serious questions raised by him despite documentary evidence. He cited anomalies in the Haryana voters’ list, claiming that a Brazilian woman’s photograph appeared 22 times and another woman’s photograph appeared 200 times in a single booth. Turning to people from Haryana present at the rally, he said their election had been “stolen through voter manipulation”.
He further claimed that BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, had realised that the alleged vote theft had been exposed, leading to visible nervousness. Referring to Shah’s response during a Lok Sabha debate, Gandhi said, “Their confidence comes only from power, which they have captured by stealing votes.”
“It may take some time, but in the end, truth will prevail,” Gandhi said. “Give as many speeches as you want — we will defeat you with truth and non-violence.”
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the BJP leadership appeared shaken as “the ground beneath their feet is slipping away”. She accused the government of trampling upon constitutional institutions, including the judiciary, the media, Parliament and the Election Commission. “The entire media is owned either by Adani or Ambani, both friends of the prime minister,” she alleged.
Senior Congress leaders, including Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal, chief ministers, PCC presidents, CLP leaders, MPs and other party functionaries, were present at the rally.
During the rally, bundles containing over 50 million signatures, packed in gunny bags, were prominently displayed on the stage. The signatures were collected as part of a Congress-led nationwide campaign against the Election Commission and will be submitted to the President of India.
