Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday called for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's impeachment and trial for treason over alleged election rigging, while the BJP mocked the Opposition's symbolic proceedings as an attempt to make him feel he was in a Parliament of his choice.Speaking at the INDIA bloc's symbolic “public impeachment” programme in Delhi, Gandhi said the Opposition would not let Kumar escape accountability. BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi, however, accused Congress of creating a “mock parliament” to give solace to its “maverick prince”.“We are not going to let you escape.

I am saying this with love and affection; we are not nasty or evil people, but we will protect the Constitution and the voice of our people,” Gandhi said.He described the exercise as a “political weapon” aimed at Kumar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others he accused of damaging Indian democracy. “You have taken this game into rigging elections. Mr Modi and Mr Shah might be at the top.

We will deal with them. But you are their tool,” he said, referring to Union Home Minister Amit Shah.Gandhi said around 250 MPs had gathered in the garden of the Leader of the Opposition's residence because institutional avenues were closed to them. “The entire Opposition is sitting in a garden, discussing the impeachment of Gyanesh Kumar,” he said.RAHUL GANDHI QUESTIONS VOTER DELETIONSGandhi claimed that 13.1 crore voters, or roughly 15 per cent of the electorate, had been removed from electoral rolls.

He said these voters had been eligible to vote in the 2024 Lok Sabha election and questioned how the Election Commission could now treat them as illegitimate.“Either say these voters were legitimate and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were legitimate. Or say these are illegitimate voters, and then the 2024 Lok Sabha becomes illegitimate,” he said.He also cited what he described as a three-percentage-point gap in the 2024 election to underline the potential impact of the deletions.Gandhi said the Opposition would take its campaign to the streets of Delhi on Sunday, warning that alleged election rigging and the misuse of investigating agencies would not continue indefinitely.“You can continue to rig elections.

You can continue to allow the abuse of CBI and ED. We guarantee you, this is temporary,” he said.He warned Kumar against relying on legal immunity and said India's youth would not forgive those damaging democracy.“Gyanesh Kumar should be impeached.

Gyanesh Kumar should be tried. Gyanesh Kumar should be tried for treason,” Gandhi said.BJP MOCKS OPPOSITION'S SYMBOLIC PROCEEDINGSTrivedi accused Congress of staging the exercise out of frustration, saying the party had failed in its attempts to create anarchy.“Congress party, just in order to give solace to the sentiment of their maverick prince, Rahul Gandhi, is now creating a hallucination that he is there in the Parliament of his own choice by creating a mock parliament,” he said.The BJP MP cited World Bank poverty estimates to argue that India was progressing under PM Modi.

A recent report said that extreme poverty had fallen to 2.6 per cent, while the share of people living on less than $4.20 a day had declined from 57.7 per cent in 2011 to 16 per cent.He said the BJP-led NDA was working to remove poverty, while Congress was focused on removing PM Modi despite repeated electoral setbacks.“Congress, out of utter frustration under the leadership of their leader, Rahul Gandhi, who is consistently inconsistent in his every approach and word, is trying to remove Prime Minister Modi, and still they are being rejected by the people of the country,” Trivedi said.- Ends