Activists of Congress, NCP(Sharad Pawar), Shiv Sena(UBT) and Communist partiesprotested at Variety Square inNagpur on Thursday
District Congress president and former MLA Subhash Dhote said Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and the INDIA bloc were raising issues concerning democratic rights and urged citizens to remain vigilant. The protesters raised slogans against Kumar, while also expressing solidarity with leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi . Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, former minister Sunil Kedar, Nagpur city Congress president Prafulla Gudadhe, Nagpur rural Congress president Ashwin Bais, Avantika Lekurwale, NCP city president Duneswar Pethe and office-bearers and workers of Thackeray-led Shiv Sena were also present. In Chandrapur, Congress MP Pratibha Dhanorkar demanded Kumar’s resignation while addressing the party’s ‘Vote Bachao–Desh Bachao’ agitation, organised as part of its ‘Loktantra Bachao Week’. Congress workers marched from Gandhi Chowk to the district collectorate, where a delegation submitted a memorandum addressed to President Droupadi Murmu . Dhanorkar described the campaign as an effort to protect voters’ rights, constitutional values and the independence and impartiality of Election Commission. In Amravati, opposition parties marched to the district collectorate, where a delegation submitted a memorandum to collector Ashish Yerekar. Former minister Yashomati Thakur criticised the BJP-led govt and Election Commission, alleging that the electoral process had been compromised. MP Balwant Wankhade, former minister Sunil Deshmukh, Congress rural president Bablu Deshmukh, former MLA Virendra Jagtap, city Congress president Bablu Shekhawat and NCP (SP) district president Anil Jalamkar were among those who led the protest.
Nagpur/Amravati/Chandrapur: Opposition parties of the INDIA bloc on Thursday staged protests in Nagpur, Chandrapur and Amravati against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that the functioning of Election Commission of India (ECI) had undermined transparency in the electoral process.