00:00Joining me right now is Senior Congress Leader, Rajya Sabha MP, Mr. Pawan Khera.
00:05Mr. Khera, thank you for taking the time out and joining us.
00:08One pertinent question, Mr. Khera, that beckons to be asked.
00:12You, the CWC, the declaration of the CWC, and then the all-party meeting today,
00:19and the declaration of the all-party meeting in terms of the India Alliance meet,
00:23have now escalated and asked not just for the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner,
00:30but also the Prime Minister and the Home Minister.
00:32The news report you're basing it on has raised objections and, you know, questions of the Election Commission.
00:41Are you making the whole process a little frivolous by going beyond asking for the resignation of just the CEC
00:48and then attacking the Prime Minister and the Home Minister as well?
00:52You know, people would start questioning our intentions if, Preeti, we were to only limit ourselves to Gyanesh Kumar Gupta.
01:04Because Gyanesh Kumar Gupta is nothing but a pawn.
01:08People who are actually making him do these things are the ones who need to be targeted.
01:13It's a political fight. It's a fight with the political leadership.
01:16He's just a bureaucrat being misused by the political leadership.
01:22So, therefore, the target has to be not just him, but people who control him and his actions.
01:32But, Mr. Khera, it's a constitutional body.
01:34And Mr. Gyanesh Kumar reports to the President and not quite to the Prime Minister.
01:40Look at the way he's appointed, first of all. The way the process was tinkered with, the way it was
01:46diluted, the way he was given immunity by an Act of Parliament.
01:50All this points to only one. The needle of suspicion is not even a suspicion.
01:56It's clear that it's Modi and Shah who want to control this constitutional body of the Election Commission.
02:07Mr. Khera, the India Alliance partners today has come up with a long six-month agenda.
02:15It starts immediately.
02:16But in that six-month agenda are also elections of important states, states that you have high-stake battle in,
02:24for example, Punjab.
02:25And then you, it's Uttar Pradesh.
02:27So, is the Congress and the India Alliance on board with not participating in the election that you now have
02:34confirmed?
02:35Or on your own account have charged or rigged under the current CEC?
02:40No, why should we not participate in the election?
02:43Of course, we'll participate in the election.
02:44This is not a solution.
02:47The solution is to keep pushing them, to keep exposing them and to keep ensuring, finally, that they give in
02:55and they resign.
02:56They'll have to resign.
02:57Gyanesh has to go.
02:59The other two, I don't know for what reason, but they've spoken out.
03:03Within the organization, they have spoken out.
03:05But believe me, down below it, within the election commission, there is a lot of frustration.
03:10People don't want to do things which are wrong.
03:12People don't want to steal somebody's vote.
03:15At the end of the day, we are all, you know, nobody wants to break rules.
03:19But they are being made to break rules.
03:21So, we will participate in the elections, but we'll keep pushing for our demands.
03:28But how does that make sense, Mr. Khera?
03:30Because at one end, you are charging the election commission of conducting fixed and rigged elections, yet you want to
03:37continue participating in that.
03:39Something which, like a pressure group like the CJP has also urged political parties to boycott elections.
03:46Because, Priti, if we were to boycott elections, say, for example, hypothetically, the India alliance decides to boycott elections.
03:54Who does it suit?
03:55It suits Narendra Modi perfectly well.
03:57And he'll create an opposition of his choice.
04:00It could be anyone.
04:02And then, it'll be a sham of an election, and it'll become a, well, a Russia kind of a democracy.
04:07Do we want that?
04:08No, we'll fight for our rights.
04:10We'll fight.
04:10And we'll fight along with the people of India.
04:12People of India now are convinced that all is not right with the election commission of India.
04:17And therefore, the alertness of the citizen will also help in making elections and the electoral process more transparent.
04:24That's what our target is right now.
04:31Mr. Khaira, you know, you had participation and the likes of Mamata Banerjee did in fact show up, but certain
04:37leaders did not.
04:38Like Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav, though there was political representation from his party by Mr. Harinder and one more leader.
04:47But is the India Alliance in totality on board with what was declared at the back of the meeting?
04:54Well, absolutely.
04:56Whether he could come or not, I mean, he gave clear reasons to Mr. KC Venugopal.
05:00And yesterday at the press conference, Mr. Venugopal shared that reason with him, with all of you.
05:04So, whether people are visible today in the meeting or not, there are people who are not part of the
05:11India Alliance and yet they are supporting us.
05:13Wait and watch.
05:14A lot of people are extending their support because at the end of the day, we are all stakeholders in
05:19a democracy.
05:19If there is no democracy tomorrow, where are we?
05:51What are the charges that you have made where the Home Minister and the Prime Minister's chair is concerned?
05:57We've heard Chirag Paswan saying things, we've heard other voices coming out and the voices will only grow now.
06:03Because every now, every third day, second day, there's some change or the other in the Form 6.
06:10Is it a game?
06:12Just because you get exposed, you start changing Form 6.
06:14The entire premises of changing Form 6 rests on the governing law.
06:21The governing law of 1960 has to be taken to the Parliament in order to amend Form 6.
06:27They have done things which are absolutely unconstitutional.
06:31And today it's us, tomorrow it could be Chirag Paswan, could be Athavale, could be anyone.
06:41You know, one final question, Mr. Khaira, I know you need to also leave.
06:44I want to ask you, is the likes of Mr. Rudhav Thakre, who might have joined virtually where the India
06:50Alliance meet is concerned,
06:52have decided to pledge support to the pressure group of the CJP in Mumbai on the 2nd of October.
06:58Now, where does your party stand on the protest in Mumbai on the 2nd of October?
07:05A very, very strange question, I'll tell you why.
07:08I'll tell you why, because we are not competing for the same space.
07:13We are all out there fighting in our own language, in our own manner, we are fighting.
07:19And every pressure group is more than welcome to join the fight, to take the fight forward, why not?
07:27So, I don't see this as an either-or kind of a situation, it's not an either-or.
07:31Everybody is basically strengthening the cause.
07:39All right, and the sheer fact that, you know, Mr. Rudhav Thakre and the Shiv Sena UBT faction have decided
07:45to pledge support to the CJP
07:46is completely fine in the current India Alliance politics.
07:50Final question, sir.
07:52So, what, I mean, as I said, it's not an either-or.
07:56Everybody is welcome, everybody needs to be strengthened, we need to strengthen all of us fighting for the same cause,
08:03which is to protect the democracy and uphold the constitution of India.
08:11What if you're not allowed to take out the march that you have so decided to, sir?
08:17Well, we were not allowed to take out the Dandi Yatra.
08:24All right, then.
08:25We're going to leave it at that.
08:27But-
08:28Thank you, Mr. Khaira, for taking the time out.
08:30We're going to keep a keen eye on all developments.
08:32The India Alliance has decided to move ahead with a six-month agenda starting immediately from the 2nd of October.
08:39Thank you, Mr. Khaira, for joining us.
08:41Appreciate it.
