Jairam Ramesh Writes to Election Commission, Announces Opposition MPs’ Peaceful March to Nirvachan Sadan

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday wrote to the Election Commission of India (ECI), clarifying that Opposition MPs intended to collectively hand over a memorandum rather than send a small delegation.

In the letter dated August 10, Ramesh — writing on behalf of Opposition parties in Parliament — informed Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar that all Opposition MPs would stage a peaceful march from Parliament House to Nirvachan Sadan on August 11 after 11:30 am. The MPs sought a meeting with the Commission to raise concerns, including the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar and similar plans for other states.

“We look forward to meeting with the Commission, which will be in keeping with the highest traditions of our parliamentary democracy,” Ramesh stated. Later, the ECI confirmed an appointment for 12 pm. MPs from Opposition parties in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are expected to march from Parliament’s Makar Dwar to the ECI headquarters.

Earlier, Delhi Police said no formal permission had been sought for the march. Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh also reiterated the Opposition’s objections, alleging irregularities during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and claiming that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) were filling out “fake forms” in a single room.

Singh alleged that duplicate voter entries existed across multiple polling booths and reiterated Rahul Gandhi’s demand for electronic voter roll data to identify how many votes were cast on a single EPIC number. He also questioned the urgency of completing the SIR in Bihar within one month, noting that a similar exercise in 2003 had taken two years.