In a show of unity, INDIA bloc leaders attended a dinner meeting hosted by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday evening to primarily discuss the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar.
The dinner was the first physical meeting of the top leadership of the Opposition’s coalition. It saw an impressive turnout of 50 leaders from as many as 25 INDIA bloc parties.
The leaders had last met virtually on July 19 to discuss the alliance’s strategy for the monsoon session of Parliament that began two days later.
Hosted by Gandhi at his official 5, Sunehri Bagh Road residence, the INDIA bloc dinner also saw the leaders unequivocally endorsing Gandhi’s call for a “united fight” against Election Commission irregularities.
Gandhi’s powerpoint presentation included photo evidence of fake voters and he took the leaders through the alleged irregularities that took place in Karnataka and Maharashtra.
Besides key Congress leaders, the meet was attended by NCP-SP leader Sharad Pawar, Farooq Abdullah, PDP's Mehbooba Mufti, SP's Akhilesh Yadav, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, TMC's Abhishek Banerjee, Shiv Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray, DMK's Tiruchi Siva, CPI(M)'s M A Baby, CPI's Raja, CPI(ML)'s Dipankar Bhattacharya and MNM chief Kamal Haasan.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Telangana CM Revanth Reddy were also present.
Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi described the meeting as “positive” and confirmed that the SIR exercise and revelations made by Gandhi were the core discussions during the meeting.
Farooq Abdullah raised the issue of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir, stating that the Centre had yet to fulfill its promise. He also voiced concern over the recent ban on certain books in the region, calling it unconstitutional.
Earlier in the day, Gandhi presented data from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, claiming that over one lakh votes had been “stolen” in a Karnataka assembly segment through five different methods of manipulation. He said "vote chori" is an "atom bomb on our democracy".
The opposition has been vocal against the SIR exercise in Bihar, warning that it could lead to disenfranchisement of many.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav too briefed the allies about the SIR conducted in Bihar last month. He also invited all INDIA bloc leaders to the protest rally that the Opposition’s Grand Alliance (comprising the RJD, Congress and Left parties) in poll-bound Bihar plans to hold at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan on September 1.
The Aam Aadmi Party, which had attended the joint INDIA bloc press conference on the SIR issue earlier this week, was not invited. AAP had publicly severed ties with the alliance after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
