00:00The opposition India bloc has upped the ante in their fight, not just against the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar,
00:08but also against the Bharatiya Janata Party.
00:11More than 20 opposition parties and leaders came together in the national capital for a crucial India bloc meeting.
00:18So from the Congress, there was Malikar Jun Kargay, Congress Party President and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabar Rahul
00:23Gandhi and Congress Party Leader Sonia Gandhi.
00:25From the Thirmul Congress, Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee were both there.
00:30From the RJD, Tejasvi Yadav.
00:32Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was representing the National Conference.
00:35Mehubha Mufti from the PDP were there.
00:38Supriya Sule from the NCP, Sharath Pawar Camp.
00:40And this meeting ended with a major announcement.
00:42A nationwide campaign, a protest week, a protest march to the EC office, major rallies across October and a joint
00:51rally on the 1st of November.
00:52But even as the India bloc had the show of unity, incidentally, Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party stayed away.
00:59Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav, he skipped the meeting.
01:02Of course, he sent a party representative.
01:04The official explanation was that he's preparing for Rajasabha elections.
01:08But the timing is extremely significant.
01:11Uttar Pradesh heads to elections in 2027.
01:13There are several indications all may not be well, at least for now, between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party.
01:19There is a divide between the two over seat allocation.
01:23The Congress is demanding upwards of 150 seats.
01:26The Samajwadi Party is offering under 100, maybe 80, maybe 90, maybe a little more.
01:34One of the biggest flashpoints remains the Raibareli Amethi belt.
01:38The Samajwadi Party wants three to four seats in this region.
01:42It's even eyeing Unchahar and Amethi.
01:45The Congress is unwilling to give up what it considers is its family bastion.
01:50But that's not the only flashpoint.
01:52Akhilesh Yadav chose Raibareli as the starting point of his PDA yatra.
01:57The Congress response announced, you know, campaigns from the Samajwadi Party stronghold.
02:02United in Delhi, but divided in Uttar Pradesh.
02:06In fact, that's the question that even the Bharatiya Janata Party is asking that is the India bloc together?
02:14They look at it as Rahul Gandhi's pet peeve, which had absolutely no traction in Bihar.
02:21And Akhilesh Yadav realizes it, according to the BJP, there will be no traction in UP.
02:26And the UP ke ladke may not be together on vote chori, is the BJP's claim.
02:31We get to more in this report.
02:37The India bloc is turning up the heat on Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
02:42More than 20 opposition parties came together in Delhi today.
02:47Congress, RJD, TMC, National Conference, PDP, left parties, NCP's Sharad Bawar faction, all in the same room.
02:57The message was clear.
02:59A joint campaign against Gyanesh Kumar and the SIR exercise.
03:06Save Democracy marches from October 2nd to 8th.
03:10A march to the Election Commission on October 6th.
03:13A request for meeting with President in second week of October.
03:17Five major rallies in October and November over the vote chori.
03:21A mega rally in Delhi on November 1st.
03:24An appeal for an early resolution of all SIR-related cases in the Supreme Court.
03:31Resignation of Gyanesh Kumar and rollback of SIR.
03:35These are the key demands of India bloc.
03:39This is personal commitment of all India leaders.
03:44We are going to ensure that the people who have destroyed Indian democracy are punished.
03:52Doesn't matter how senior they are, who they are, Indian democracy is bigger than every single person in this country.
04:02Rahul Gandhi, meanwhile, is confident that the India bloc will stand together and fight this battle.
04:09Again, I also mentioned to all the opposition leaders that they are the collective defenders of the Indian constitution.
04:22And it is an honor for us to work together.
04:27And we are confident that over the next few months, we will make serious changes in the country.
04:39But while the opposition is putting up a united front against the Election Commission,
04:44there are serious question marks over the unity within the bloc.
04:50Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav skipped today's crucial India bloc meeting.
04:56The reason given, preparations for the Rajya Sabha elections.
05:02Akhilesh also attempted to brush aside speculation of a rift,
05:07saying that the BJP's biggest concern is that the India bloc is united.
05:14But the Congress SP fault lines are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore,
05:19especially with the 2027 Uttar Pradesh elections moving.
05:25The SP is offering it 85 to 90 seats.
05:29The tussle is over the Rai Bareli Amethi seats,
05:32while the SP wanting three to four seats in the region.
05:35The SP is eyeing Unchahar, Har Chandpur and Amethi seats,
05:39while the Congress is not ready to give away its strongholds.
05:44And the political messaging from both sides has only added fuel to the speculation.
05:50Akhilesh Yadav chose Rai Bareli, a Congress bastion, to launch his PDA yatra.
05:57The Congress in turn announced plans to campaign in Samajwadi party strongholds.
06:03A tit-for-tat that has raised fresh questions over the alliance ahead of the UP polls.
06:09And then came another pointed remark from Rahul Gandhi's trusted aide, Imran Masood.
06:14He claimed that the Congress-SP alliance would perform better if Rahul Gandhi leads it.
06:29The Samajwadi party has hit back, saying Congress cannot compete against the BJP on its own.
06:56The opposition seems united in this fight against election commission.
07:00But when it comes to fighting elections, the divide is there for everyone to see.
07:06Bureau Report, India Today.
