In a significant display of solidarity with arrested leaders like former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the INDIA bloc organized a massive rally at Delhi's Ram Lila Maidan on Sunday.
Key leaders from major opposition parties, including Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Trinamool Congress (TMC), and others, were present on the dias to underscore their unity against the ruling dispensation.
During the rally, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra enumerated five crucial demands of the Opposition bloc from the Election Commission:
1. Ensuring equal opportunities for all parties in the Lok Sabha elections.
2. Putting an end to the forceful and 'misuse' of government agencies like the Income Tax Department (IT), the Enforcement Directorate (ED), and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Opposition parties to influence elections.
3. Immediate release of Hemant Soren and Arvind Kejriwal.
4. Halting the trend of financially stifling Opposition parties during elections.
5. Formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the supervision of the Supreme Court to investigate allegations of vendetta, extortion, and money laundering by the BJP through electoral bonds.
The INDIA bloc also launched scathing attacks on the BJP government, condemning its undemocratic practices and vowing to protect democracy in the country.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticized the BJP's ambition to secure "400 paar" in the elections, suggesting it would require 'match-fixing.'
Sunita Kejriwal, standing in for her husband Arvind Kejriwal, asserted, "Your Kejriwal is a lion, they will not be able to keep him in jail for long."
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav warned that if the BJP continued its unethical use of government agencies against the Opposition, it would not secure 400 seats but lose them.
The rally saw the presence of several prominent leaders from the INDIA alliance, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal, Hemant Soren's wife Kalpana Soren, among others.
