Kharge steps up SIR attack, seeks dissolution of Lok Sabha and Assemblies

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has demanded dissolution of the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies, alleging that elections were illegal and calling for fresh polls using ballot papers. He also criticised EVMs, the SIR exercise and the law governing election commissioners

Kalaburagi (Karnataka): Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday demanded the dissolution of the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies, saying that “all the elections were illegal” and that even Prime Minister Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and chief ministers of all the states were “illegal”.

He said fresh polls should be conducted using ballot papers.

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“Today, the entire country is being run on illegal elections. Modi is an illegal Prime Minister, Shah is an illegal minister, and all the chief ministers who have been elected anywhere are illegal. All of them should be dissolved, elections should be held, and elections should be conducted through ballot papers,” he told reporters here.

Kharge alleged that EVMs were being misused and said that “their own people” were saying this.

He alleged that the ongoing SIR of the electoral roll had many irregularities and was undermining democracy, pointing out that the government was making many mistakes in the process.

He said the Opposition would continue to hold agitations across the country against the SIR exercise and alleged misuse of the electoral process.

Kharge referred to the INDIA bloc meeting held on September 30, in which members of 20 parties and their legal cells participated, and said everyone agreed that the SIR was going wrong for the country and was adversely affecting poor people, the uneducated, workers and, particularly, minorities.

He questioned what kind of free and fair election it would be if 500 votes were removed from a booth, alleging that attempts were now being made to add names.

The Congress president alleged that many people, particularly members of the BJP and RSS, were going to wards, panchayats and villages where they wanted votes to be deleted and were filling up forms there. He called it “completely wrong”.

Kharge recalled that no leader in the past, including Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Narasimha Rao and Rajiv Gandhi, had ever done anything like this in a democracy.

“But the misuse that you are making is hurting our youth, poor people, Dalits and deprived sections,” he said.

Kharge pointed out that while an affluent person could somehow get his work done, if something went wrong, a poor person had to leave his work and go to get it corrected or renewed.

Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of destroying democracy, the Congress president referred to the law under which the CEC and Election Commissioners are granted immunity from legal action for decisions taken while in office under Clause 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023.

“Therefore, Modi ji and his implementers have brought in a law and are destroying democracy. First, they changed the composition of the committee. Earlier, the Chief Justice of India, the Leader of the Opposition and the Prime Minister were members of the committee.

“Then, through a law brought in 2023, they removed the Chief Justice and included a minister. Why? Because tomorrow, if the Chief Justice does not agree with them and a sincere and honest person occupies that position, then they would not be able to get the law passed or constitute the CEC,” he alleged.

Kharge pointed out that under the new law, if the CEC or Election Commissioners committed any mistake, “there can be no inquiry against them anywhere — till death”, alleging that this was how they were destroying democracy.

Referring to a report by The Indian Express on the SIR, Kharge said that two members of the Election Commission had written to the Chief Election Commissioner 10 and 14 times, respectively, but their letters had no impact.

“They cannot speak openly outside, but they expressed their views clearly,” he said, adding that if such things continued, they could conduct elections arbitrarily.

“We have to see whether you want to save democracy in this country or destroy it. That is why we called an all-party meeting and asked everyone to launch an agitation. The first agitation started in Delhi,” he said.

Referring to the October 6 agitation in New Delhi, wherein all Opposition MPs will march to the Election Commission, the Congress president said they would continue to hold agitations to awaken people.

“There will be a very big agitation on October 6, and I am going there tomorrow. We will continue to hold agitations every three or four days, and agitations are also taking place in every state,” he said.

“Our job is to awaken the people. And even after awakening them, if you continue saying ‘Modi, Modi’, then you want dictatorship,” he said, pressing that elections should be conducted through ballot papers.

Responding to a question on the course of action for the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh in all Assembly constituencies, the Congress president said, “What can we do? Can we boycott? At least we are alive, and you are asking us. That too will go away.”

When asked whether the Congress would proceed legally, Kharge said, “What can we do legally? The law is with them, the judiciary is in their hands.

“The CEC and the Election Commission are in their hands. The machine is being operated by them. It is operating according to their instructions. Votes are being changed at their behest. That is why Modi and Shah should first get out through this democracy.”