Chandigarh:
The Sirsa MP, Former Union Cabinet Minister, General Secretary of All India Congress Committee, Congress Incharge of Uttarakhand and Congress Working Committee member Kumari Selja on Monday, while speaking to journalists in New Delhi ahead of the Congress’s proposed march, said the time had come for a decisive fight against alleged vote theft through the purported collusion between the BJP government and the Election Commission. She asserted that the people’s votes were not the property of any government but a right guaranteed by the Constitution. The Congress would firmly oppose any attempt to weaken or take away this right.
Kumari Selja said Congress workers were mobilising in New Delhi on October 12 under the leadership of party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to protect democracy and voting rights. A march from Barakhamba Road Junction to the Supreme Court has been called for 1.30 pm. She said the struggle was not limited to the Congress but concerned the rights of every citizen who had been given the power to vote under the Constitution.
Kumari Selja alleged that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls could adversely affect the voting rights of poor people, Dalits, backward classes and minorities. She said the Election Commission had a constitutional responsibility to ensure free, fair and transparent elections. The names of all eligible voters must remain on electoral rolls, and no citizen should be deprived of the right to vote. She said Rahul Gandhi had consistently raised concerns over alleged irregularities in the electoral process and vote theft. Questions raised by the Congress, she added, should be answered transparently.
Kumari Selja further alleged that attempts were being made to suppress democratic dissent through police action and arrests. Expressing disagreement and questioning the government, she said, were constitutional rights of every citizen. She asserted that the country would be governed by the values and principles of the Constitution framed under the leadership of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, not by the arbitrary wishes of any government.
Kumari Selja called upon citizens to remain aware and united in protecting democratic rights. She said the Congress would continue its struggle to safeguard the impartiality of democratic institutions, transparency in elections and the people’s right to vote, adding that there would be no compromise on the protection of the Constitution and democracy.
