Kharge demands dissolution of Lok Sabha and state assemblies:Calls for fresh ballot-paper elections, alleges EVM misuse and SIR irregularities

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday demanded the dissolution of the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies, alleging that all elections held so far were illegal. He said fresh elections should be conducted using ballot papers. He said, ‘Today, the entire country is being run on illegal elections. 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’, as per PTI. Kharge alleges EVM misuse, irregularities in SIR Kharge alleged that EVMs are being misused and said that ‘their own people’ were also making such claims. He also alleged several irregularities in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, saying the process was undermining democracy and that the government was making several mistakes. Kharge said the Opposition would continue to hold protests across the country against the SIR exercise and what he described as the misuse of the electoral process. He referred to the INDIA bloc meeting held on September 30, attended by members of 20 parties and their legal cells. He said all participants agreed that the SIR exercise was going wrong for the country and was adversely affecting poor people, the uneducated, workers and, particularly, minorities. Kharge questioned how elections could be free and fair if 500 votes were removed from a polling booth, while alleging that attempts were now being made to add names. Allegation of attempts to delete voters’ names The Congress president alleged that several people, particularly members of the BJP and RSS, were visiting wards, panchayats and villages where they wanted votes to be deleted and filling up forms there. He described this as ‘completely wrong’. Kharge recalled that no leader in the past, including Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri, PV Narasimha Rao and Rajiv Gandhi, had done anything similar in a democracy He said but the misuse that you are making is hurting our youth, poor people, Dalits and deprived sections. He also said that while an affluent person could somehow get their work done if something went wrong, a poor person had to leave their work to get an issue corrected or renewed. Kharge questions law protecting election commissioners Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of destroying democracy, Kharge referred to the law under which the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners are granted immunity from legal action for decisions taken while in office under Clause 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023. He said, ‘Therefore, Modi ji and his implementers have brought in a law and are destroying democracy. First, they changed the composition of the committee. Earlier, the Chief Justice of India, the Leader of the Opposition and the Prime Minister were members of the committee’. He alleged that, through a law brought in 2023, they removed the Chief Justice and included a minister. Why? Because tomorrow, if the Chief Justice does not agree with them and a sincere and honest person occupies that position, then they would not be able to get the law passed or constitute the CEC. Kharge said that under the new law, if the CEC or Election Commissioners committed any mistake, ‘there can be no inquiry against them anywhere, till death’, alleging that this was how democracy was being destroyed. Refers to report on SIR Referring to a report by The Indian Express on the SIR exercise, Kharge said two Election Commission members had written to the Chief Election Commissioner 10 and 14 times respectively, but their letters had no impact. He said, ‘They cannot speak openly outside, but they expressed their views clearly, adding that if such things continued, elections could be conducted arbitrarily’. He further added, ‘We have to see whether you want to save democracy in this country or destroy it. That is why we called an all-party meeting and asked everyone to launch an agitation. The first agitation started in Delhi.’ Opposition plans October 6 protest Referring to the October 6 protest in New Delhi, during which Opposition MPs will march to the Election Commission, Kharge said they would continue holding demonstrations to ‘awaken’ people. Reiterating his demand for elections to be conducted using ballot papers, he said, ‘There will be a very big agitation on October 6, and I am going there tomorrow. We will continue to hold agitations every three or four days, and agitations are also taking place in every state. Our job is to awaken the people. And even after awakening them, if you continue saying ‘Modi, Modi’, then you want dictatorship.’ Kharge questions options for Uttar Pradesh polls Asked about the Congress’s course of action for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, including contests in all constituencies, Kharge said, ‘What can we do? Can we boycott? At least we are alive, and you are asking us. That too will go away.’ When asked whether the Congress would pursue legal action, Kharge said, ‘What can we do legally? The law is with them, the judiciary is in their hands.’ He also alleged that the CEC and Election Commission were in the government’s hands and that the voting machines were being operated according to their instructions.
He further added, ‘The CEC and the Election Commission are in their hands. The machine is being operated by them. It is operating according to their instructions. Votes are being changed at their behest. That is why Modi and Shah should first get out through this democracy.’