New Delhi: Upping the ante over the ‘vote chori’ issue, the Congress will take out 'Samvidhan Raksha' marches on November 26 (Constitution Day), carry out a campaign for booth-level verification of deleted voters, as well as hold village-level ‘Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao’ chaupals.
In a circular issued on Sunday to Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) presidents, general secretaries, in-charges and other key office bearers, Congress general secretary, in-charge (organisation), K C Venugopal said the programmes scheduled for November 25 and 26 under Phase IV ‘Dilli Chalo’ will now be held at a later date, as every PCC will organise a 'Samvidhan Raksha' march in states on November 26.
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Ahead of this march, a ‘Vote Rakshak’ campaign will be conducted, during which Congress workers will visit every booth and verify the votes that have been deleted, Venugopal said.
"The campaign will now run on the following schedule. November 26: Samvidhan Raksha march at every state headquarters, the main event of the campaign. Up to November 22: District Congress Committee (DCC)-level meetings, appointment of ‘Vote Rakshaks’, and training of the ground cadre. November 22 to 30: Booth-level verification of deleted voters by Vote Rakshaks, monitored daily by the mandal adhyakshs," the circular said.
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It further said that from November 29 to December 15, village-level ‘Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao Chaupals’, built on the findings of the verification, will be held.
“Every PCC will organise a massive Samvidhan Raksha march on November 26 as the main event of the campaign, with a historic gathering,” the circular said.
It further said the march should begin at a prominent statue either of Dr Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar or Mahatma Gandhi, symbolising the Congress' commitment to protecting the Constitution.
“After paying respects to the founding fathers of the Constitution, Congress workers should read the Preamble aloud, highlighting the core values it upholds, and take an oath to protect it,” the circular said.
“The march should then proceed from that venue to another place of significance, covering a substantial distance,” it added.
Each DCC, frontal organisations and departments of the party will commit to and deliver its share of the mobilisation. The PCC preparatory meeting will fix district-wise targets for mobilisation for various stakeholders, it said.
“A PCC-level preparatory meeting with all the DCCs is to be conducted immediately, not later than November 17,” the circular said.
"The meeting will plan for the grand success of the Samvidhan Raksha march on November 26 and will explain the full process set out for the Vote Rakshak campaign," it said.
The meeting would introduce the www.iamvoterakshak.in portal to the DCCs and discuss how Vote Rakshaks are to be appointed and trained through the mandal adhyaksh, how the verification is to be done, and how they will monitor and report the ground verification of the deleted votes every day.
Under the ‘Vote Rakshak’ programme, the mandal adhyaksh will appoint at least one ‘Vote Rakshak’ for every booth, drawn from BLAs, booth committee members, youth and frontal organisation workers, and citizens who have joined as ‘Vote Rakshaks’ on the portal, it said.
The DCC will train all mandal adhyakshs, who will, in turn, train the ‘Vote Rakshaks’ of their mandals in a mandal-level session, it said.
“By the evening of November 21, every mandal adhyaksh should confirm to the DCC that every booth has a trained Vote Rakshak. Every activity, including the DCC meetings, training sessions, booth verification, the Samvidhan Raksha march and the chaupals, must be posted with photos and videos on the social media handles of the PCC, DCCs, block committees and our leaders on the same day,” the circular said.
The announcement comes days after the INDIA bloc held a rally at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan on November 1 and the symbolic "public impeachment" of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
