'Voter fraud', SIR row: Kharge to host dinner for INDIA bloc MPs; what's on agenda?

NEW DELHI: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge will host a dinner for MPs of the INDIA bloc on Monday, as opposition parties intensify their joint push against the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar and alleged poll rigging, sources told news agency PTI.

The gathering at the Hotel Taj Palace in Chanakyapuri will coincide with a protest march by opposition MPs from Parliament to the Election Commission’s office over what they call “poll fraud.”

The dinner comes on the heels of a rare show of unity last week, when top INDIA bloc leaders met at Rahul Gandhi’s residence and pledged to resist the electoral roll revision in Bihar and the “vote chori model” they accuse the BJP and Election Commission of running. That meeting marked the first in-person session of the bloc’s senior leaders since June 2024, shortly after the Lok Sabha elections, when they assembled at Kharge’s residence.

Leaders from 25 parties attended, including Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar, National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah, PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti, SP’s Akhilesh Yadav, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, DMK’s Tiruchi Siva and T R Baalu, CPI(M)’s M A Baby, CPI’s D Raja, CPI(ML)’s Dipankar Bhattacharya and MNM chief Kamal Haasan.

During the meeting, Rahul Gandhi gave what the Congress described as a detailed presentation on the “vote chori model” allegedly executed by the BJP via the Election Commission. He laid out “the entire game” of how elections were being “rigged,” according to the party.

“A united front against electoral manipulation! We are committed to protecting democracy and will save it from being destroyed at all costs,” the Congress later posted on X.

Earlier, at a press conference, Gandhi had reiterated his charge of a “huge criminal fraud” in elections through “collusion” between the BJP and the Election Commission.

“The way opposition parties have been united in Parliament in national interest and have cornered the government, the same unity was visible in the meeting as well,” said Gaurav Gogoi, Congress’ deputy leader in the Lok Sabha.

Opposition parties have strongly opposed the ongoing SIR exercise in Bihar, warning it could result in the disenfranchisement of many voters.