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Delhi Police clear Congress rally at Ramlila Maidan on 1 November
The no-objection certificate covers 25 October to 3 November. Kharge announced the rally after the INDIA bloc agreed to campaign together against the roll revision.
Key points
- Delhi Police issued a no-objection certificate for the Congress rally at Ramlila Maidan.
- The NOC runs from 25 October to 3 November.
- Ramlila Maidan is one of the sites named for protests after Jantar Mantar was de-notified.
Delhi Police have given the Congress permission to hold a large rally at Ramlila Maidan on 1 November, the party’s biggest planned show of strength in the capital since the protests against the Election Commission began.
Rohit Rajbir Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central), said on Saturday that the Congress had approached the police for a no-objection certificate. “An NOC has been issued for the period from 25 October to 3 November to hold the rally at the designated protest site,” he said.
Police said they were in constant touch with the organisers, the traffic police and other agencies to keep order and manage traffic around the ground.
Ramlila Maidan is one of three venues, along with Burari Ground and CBD Ground, that Delhi Police named for protests after Jantar Mantar was struck off the list earlier this month.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge announced the rally after the INDIA bloc parties met on 30 September and agreed to work together against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with rallies and a “Save Democracy” march. He said the parties also agreed that elections should be held with paper ballots instead of electronic voting machines.
The opposition has also seized on reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi formally objected at least 14 times in 10 months to SIR decisions taken without their knowledge. The commission has said differing views are normal in any institution and that all its orders have a full legal basis.