New Delhi, Oct 20 CPI(M) leaders on Tuesday staged a protest against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, during which they burnt an effigy marked “Vote Chori-SIR” and senior party leader Brinda Karat said those defending the right to vote represented the forces of good.
The protest was held outside the CPI(M) headquarters at AKG Bhawan, from where party leaders marched out raising slogans against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, shouting “Vote chor, gaddi chhor” (Vote thief, leave the throne) and “Jantantra pe hamla nahi sahenge” (We won’t tolerate attack on democracy).
Karat said Dussehra symbolised the victory of good over evil and drew a parallel between the festival and the political fight to protect voting rights.
“Today signifies victory of good over evil. The good are those who are defending the right to vote. The evil are those who are destroying democracy and snatching away the right to vote,” she said.
CPI(M) leader Subhashini Ali condemned the arrest and judicial custody of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka and accused the government of trying to intimidate those criticising it.
“This is very wrong. They have not committed any crime. This government wants to scare people who are fighting against it. The government is scared, we are not,” Ali said.
Das and Ranka were arrested on October 14 during protests against the SIR and remanded to judicial custody for five days. Their custody was subsequently extended by two days.
CPI(M) leaders Ashok Dhawale, Mariam Dhawale, Vijoo Krishnan, Hannan Mollah, Nilotpal Basu and P Krishna Prasad were among those who participated in the protest.
The protest comes amid a series of demonstrations organised by various political and civil society groups against the SIR and CEC Gyanesh Kumar. The CJP has also been holding protests against the exercise, alleging large-scale deletion of voters from the electoral rolls and questioning the Election Commission’s actions.
(PTI News)
