India bloc continues protests demanding CEC resignation

Opposition INDIA bloc leaders continued protests demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, after police stopped a demonstration in New Delhi on October 7 and detained Rahul Gandhi and other leaders. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hosted bloc lawmakers for a second consecutive day on October 8, while a further protest after the lunch was reported as likely but was not confirmed in the available accounts. The lunch was scheduled at Moets in Connaught Place, according to sources cited in reports. The gathering followed a day of demonstrations in which Gandhi led opposition leaders in a bus procession from a lunch in Janpath toward the Jantar Mantar area, where they attempted to hold a sit-in. Police intervened before the protest could proceed as planned and detained Gandhi and other leaders, according to the accounts. Gandhi said the protests would continue until Kumar resigned. Opposition leaders have tied their demand to concerns about the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, or SIR, and have accused the Election Commission of wrongdoing. Those claims are allegations by the opposition; the reports do not independently substantiate them.