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Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Sunday likened Congress workers to an "army of monkeys" (Vannar Sena) arriving to defeat Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he called "the Ravana," as the INDIA bloc prepared for its 'Chalo Delhi' rally at Ramlila Maidan.
Speaking at Telangana Bhavan in the capital, Reddy said the fight against "vote theft" would be waged at the venue, according to a release from the Chief Minister's Office. "Our army of monkeys has arrived to defeat Modi, the Ravana. We will wage a battle against vote theft at Ramlila Maidan. As many as 13.5 crore votes have already been deleted. Another 20 crore votes will be deleted in the coming days. Votes belonging to the poor are being removed. Conspiracies are being hatched to bring Modi back to power. Despite trains being stopped, people turned up in large numbers," he said. He also arrived at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's residence before leaving for the meeting. The rally is part of the opposition's protest against alleged irregularities in electoral rolls and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. It follows a public "impeachment" programme against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on October 31. Arriving for the rally, Telangana government advisor and senior Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao said SIR had harmed voters most. "It (SIR) resulted in the greatest loss for the voters. When a person's vote is cast, they gain access to a ration card, employment, development, and education. Yet, these very things are being taken away...," he said. "The OBCs are being sidelined, even though the Prime Minister of India himself belongs to the OBC category. Rahul Gandhi, who comes from the 'upper class,' is the one fighting for the OBCs...," Rao added. Meanwhile, thousands of supporters converged at Minto Road on Sunday as the INDIA bloc kicked off its high-decibel 'Chalo Dilli' mega march against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. The march started from the Minto Road-Connaught Place junction towards Ramlila Maidan. The rally forms a central part of the Opposition's nationwide protest against alleged irregularities in electoral rolls during the Election Commissions Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. The massive gathering follows a public "impeachment" program against the CEC held in the capital on October 31. Top Opposition leaders, including Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, TMC leader Mamata Banerjee, MP Abhishek Banerjee, Telangana CM Revanth Reddy, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, JKNC president Farooq Abdullah, CPI leader D Raja, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav attended the rally, showcasing the united opposition front. Before reaching Minto Road, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi shared a video on X, alleging that the BJP has closed down shops in Connaught Place. "We told everyone that when you come here for the march and the mega rally, buy things, do some shopping. But, while coming to Connaught Place here, we found out that the BJP has forcibly shut down every single shop. So, you should know who is causing the loss to the traders, and how it's happening," he said. The opposition coalition alleges widespread, unverified deletions of legitimate votersparticularly from marginalised, backwards, and minority communitiesunder the Election Commissions SIR of voter lists. The INDIA Bloc has demanded the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, accusing the Election Commission of India (ECI) of failing to maintain electoral integrity. (ANI)
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