New DelhiAug 8, 2025 07:48 IST
First published on: Aug 8, 2025 at 07:15 IST
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After mounting an attack on the Election Commission and BJP earlier in the day accusing them of perpetrating “a huge criminal fraud” in elections, Lok Sabha leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi late evening hosted leaders of the INDIA bloc at his official residence on 5, Sunehri Bagh for a dinner meeting.
The grouping met in Delhi after more than a year, during which Gandhi gave a presentation before the leaders showing “bulletproof” evidence of “vote theft” in a Karnataka Lok Sabha constituency, similar to what he did at the press conference. Last time the leaders of the Opposition bloc met was in June after they had made significant gains in the Lok Sabha elections.
The meeting, which was attended by 50 representatives of 25 parties, signals unity among the allies, and is a step in the right direction, said leaders present at the meeting as the Opposition remained galvanised inside Parliament demanding a discussion on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.
Present at the dinner meeting, among others, were Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra; SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, party leaders leaders Dimple Yadav, Ram Gopal Yadav; TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O’Brien; Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray; NCP (SP)’s Supriya Sule and Sharad Pawar; RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav; NC president Farooq Abdullah; PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti; DMK’s Tiruchi N Siva, CPI’s D Raja; CPI(M)’s M A Baby, CPI(ML)’s Dipankar Bhattacharya and MNM chief Kamal Haasan.
Even Chief Ministers Siddaramaiah (Karnataka), Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh) and Revanth Reddy (Telangana) were also present.
Congress Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi said that though it was not a “formal” meeting and other issues were also discussed, it was “positive”, and added that the SIR issue and the revelations made by Gandhi remained the main talking points.
“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 Gogoi.
Asked if the upcoming vice-presidential election also came up during discussions, he said, “The main intention was that all leaders should come together… This is not a formal meeting, different issues are likely to be taken up.”
Describing the meeting as “very meaningful”, CPI general secretary D Raja said, “The issue was the ongoing controversy over SIR and how the EC has been functioning, how wrong things are being done as far as enrolment and identities of voters are concerned.”
“Rahul Gandhi made a powerpoint presentation and gave several examples. He also said what is happening in Bihar today can happen anywhere in the country,” said Raja.
Farooq Abdullah said they raised the issue of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir, and the ban imposed on certain books in the UT, which he called “unconstitutional”.
“I saw how votes have been stolen… Our concern is statehood (for J&K), we raised that issue. The statehood that was promised has not been given,” he said.
The Jammu and Kashmir Home Department on Wednesday issued a notification identifying 25 books that “need to be declared as ‘forfeited’ in terms of Section 98 of Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023”.