INDIA bloc rally in Delhi draws criticism over 1984 date

The INDIA bloc held a rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on November 1, drawing criticism from BJP leaders and relatives of victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh violence because it fell on a day associated with the killings. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, speaking at an event in Chandigarh, accused Congress of ignoring appeals to move the rally and alleged that orders to hold it on that date came from abroad. The allegation was not independently substantiated in the accounts of his remarks. The INDIA bloc rally called for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign over alleged electoral irregularities, according to reports ahead of the event. Shah said the BJP had urged Congress to avoid November 1, 2 and 3, dates associated with the violence. He also claimed that Delhi traders had asked the party to postpone the rally because it coincided with Diwali shopping. Shah cited trade of Rs 25,000 crore in wholesale markets over three to four days, but that figure and the claimed requests were presented as his assertions. In West Delhi, BJP leaders including Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta led a protest march in Hari Nagar. Participants called on...