Kharge hosts INDIA bloc lunch amid SIR row (Img: Dynamite News)
New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday hosted a lunch meeting for INDIA bloc MPs at Sagar Ratna restaurant on Janpath in Delhi. The meet took place a day after the Opposition staged a high-voltage protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The meeting came amid mounting political tensions over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and Opposition allegations of “vote chori”. The INDIA bloc is expected to discuss its next course of action and ways to step up its campaign seeking answers from the poll panel and demanding the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar.
The lunch was scheduled for 1.30 pm at Sagar Ratna, with several senior Opposition leaders, including Congress leaders and representatives of INDIA bloc allies, expected to attend.
Security was tightened around the restaurant, with police cordoning off the area following Tuesday's confrontation between Opposition MPs and Delhi Police.
The heightened security arrangements came against the backdrop of continuing protests in central Delhi over the CEC and the SIR exercise.
Delhi Police had already increased deployment across the New Delhi district, with barricades placed at several intersections and along routes leading towards Parliament and Jantar Mantar.
Paramilitary forces and local police personnel were also deployed along key protest routes. Multiple reports said Delhi Police remained on standby outside the Janpath restaurant as the INDIA bloc leaders met on Wednesday.
Security arrangements were intensified after Opposition MPs marched towards Nirvachan Sadan on Tuesday as part of their protest against the Election Commission.
The police response became a major feature of the demonstration, with heavy barricading used to stop the march.
On Tuesday, INDIA bloc MPs marched from Parliament towards Nirvachan Sadan, demanding action against the Election Commission and seeking the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar over their concerns regarding the SIR of electoral rolls.
The march was halted by heavy police barricading. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was seen climbing a barricade as police attempted to stop the protesters from advancing.
Several Opposition MPs were detained during the protest. Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other Congress leaders later entered the Akashvani Bhawan premises, where they staged a sit-in.
The demonstration continued for several hours before Delhi Police removed the protesters and detained them, saying the action was necessary to maintain law and order.
Police said around 260 people, including 10 MPs, were detained during the day.
The Opposition, however, maintained that it wanted to meet the Election Commissioners directly and present its concerns over the electoral roll revision exercise.
Rahul Gandhi had said around 300 Opposition MPs wanted to meet the poll panel and submit their concerns.
The lunch meeting hosted by Kharge is expected to provide the INDIA bloc an opportunity to coordinate its strategy following Tuesday's confrontation and decide its next steps on the SIR issue and its allegations against the Election Commission.
