INDIA bloc reschedules EC protest to August 11 after Shibu Soren’s death

The Opposition's march to the Election Commission of India headquarters against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar has been rescheduled to August 11, a source said on Tuesday.

The march, earlier scheduled to be held on August 8, was rescheduled after the death of former Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren.

The schedule of the dinner meeting of the INDIA bloc leaders remains the same, and will be held on the evening of August 7 at Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's new residence - 5, Sunehri Bagh road.


Popularly known as Guruji, Shibu Soren died at a private hospital in Delhi on Monday.

Several Opposition leaders are visiting Ranchi on Tuesday to pay their last respects to the leader credited with leading the agitation for the formation of the state of Jharkhand.

Following his death, a protest that the Congress was to hold in Bengaluru on Tuesday was postponed to August 8. That protest is to be led by Rahul Gandhi.

The Congress is protesting against what it calls large-scale manipulation of electoral rolls in Bengaluru's Mahadevapura constituency in the 2023 Assembly polls.

At a meeting of the INDIA bloc parties on Tuesday morning, Opposition leaders agreed that SIR remains the key issue for the Monsoon Session, and they will continue protests inside, as well as outside, the House, pressing for a debate on the issue.

Opposition parties have warned that the exercise may lead to disenfranchisement of many, and have called it "vote-bandi" and "vote-chori" (vote theft).