'Don't worry about lathis': Rahul calls on people to join INDIA bloc's 'Delhi chalo' march

NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi on Thursday reiterated his call for the November 1 "Chalo Delhi" march to Ramlila Maidan and urged student groups across political affiliations to join the opposition's protest against alleged vote theft and voter irregularities.In a social media post on X, Rahul termed the march "the soul of India" and said everyone who is fed up with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar should join the protest."The Chalo Delhi Ramlila March is a march to save democracy, stop vote theft and protect the Constitution. This is not a march by any one political party - it is a march for the soul of India. Everyone who is fed up with Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Gyanesh Kumar, everyone who wants to save democracy and protect the Constitution, please come and join us," the Congress leader said in a video message. The Congress leader also urged people not to be deterred by police action, saying the BJP "will not have the guts to try any of its usual antics"."This is one protest - the protest of the nation. Don't worry about the police, don't worry about lathis. The BJP will not have the guts to try any of its usual antics. Come march with us. We will walk together to protect the Constitution and safeguard the Indian nation," he said."There is no need to be afraid. I urge all student groups, regardless of their political affiliations, to join us. If you feel that India is under attack, if you feel that you are under attack, that your expression, your ideas and your way of thinking are under attack, come and join us. It will be a fantastic march, a march for the soul of this country," he added. This comes as Congress is gearing up for a massive show of strength at the INDIA bloc rally at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi on November 1. On Friday, the opposition is also preparing for a "public impeachment" of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar during a mock parliament at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's residence.On Wednesday, INDIA bloc representatives alleged that the revision had disproportionately affected poor workers, tenants and residents of unauthorised settlements, and demanded the restoration of eligible voters' names.The opposition also flagged alleged irregularities in voter records and called for a return to ballot paper-based elections, claiming the exercise risked disenfranchising legitimate voters. Rohitashwa Ranjan is a digital journalist with The Times of India, where he decodes Indian politics as a carefully staged production with scripts, subtext and everything behind. His stories track elections, party dynamics and the things that often are buried beneath the headlines. When not parsing vote shares or alliances, he is usually reading between the lines, where the real story tends to reside.