On Monday, there was a lot of drama at a protest march by Members of Parliament from the INDIA group to the Election Commission of India (ECI) office in Delhi. There was even a medical emergency. During the parade, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra fell as her coworkers rushed to help her. TMC MP Derek O’Brien confirmed the event and alerted the press about her health. Sagarika Ghose, another TMC politician, released a video on social media showing other party members helping Moitra. Other news sources say that Mitali Baugh, a second TMC MP, also passed unconscious during the protest and was sent to the hospital.
The march started at Makar Dwar in Parliament and was led by Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. It was going to Nirvachan Sadan, the headquarters of the ECI. The opposition MPs were angry about what they said was “voter theft” during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral records that is going on right now in Bihar. As they went along, somebody shouted “vote chor.”
Political Accusations and Police Barricades
Delhi Police stopped the march and said that no one had asked for permission to protest. In response, Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi said that the police were following directions from the administration and that permission for these kinds of marches is “never” given.
Other leaders of the opposition also seized the occasion to voice their concerns. Dimple Yadav of the Samajwadi Party said that booth capture happened in recent by-elections in Uttar Pradesh. Manoj Jha of the RJD labeled the updating of the Bihar electoral roll a “fraud” and said that the EC was hiding important information. Pramod Tiwari, a member of Congress, compared the protest to Mahatma Gandhi’s Dandi March and said it was a fight to “save democracy.”
Even though the police stopped them, the opposition leaders have promised to keep pushing the ECI for more accountability in elections.