Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday appealed to citizens, political parties and student organisations to join the INDIA bloc’s November 1 protest at Ramlila Maidan, describing it as a collective fight against alleged “vote chori” and a campaign to defend democracy and the Constitution. In a video message posted on X, he said the demonstration was not the initiative of any single political party but a movement to protect the country’s democratic foundations.
“Chalo Delhi Ramlila March is a march to save democracy, stop vote theft and protect the Constitution. This is not the march of any one political party; it is a march for the soul of India,” he said, urging those worried about the state of democratic institutions and constitutional rights to take part. He asked people “fed up” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to turn up.
Addressing students, Gandhi said they need not fear a police crackdown. “Don’t worry about the police, don’t worry about lathis – the BJP will not have the guts to try any of their antics. Come march with us – we will walk together to protect the Constitution, to protect the Indian nation,” he said. Another account of the same video records the word “batons” and the phrase “will not dare to carry out any such action”, and the two versions also give the event slightly different names, “Chalo Delhi Ramlila March” and “Chalo Delhi”.
