Delhi Police allows Cong to hold rally at Ramlila Maidan on November 1

The Delhi Police has allowed the Congress to hold a rally at Ramlila Maidan on November 1 and issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) for the event, a senior police officer said on Saturday.

On September 30, the INDIA bloc finalised a joint action plan over the SIR (Special Intensive Revision) row, including rallies and ‘save democracy marches’, with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge saying all parties agreed that elections should be held using ballot papers instead of EVMs. Then, Kharge said the party would organise a mega rally in Delhi on November 1.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Rohit Rajbir Singh said, “The Indian National Congress (INC) has planned a rally at Ramlila Maidan on November 1 and had approached the Delhi Police for the requisite NOC. The NOC for holding the rally at the designated protest site has been issued for the period from October 25 to November 3.”

The Delhi Police is in constant coordination with the organisers, traffic police, and other concerned agencies to ensure appropriate law-and-order arrangements, effective traffic management, and the smooth conduct of the proposed rally, police said.

INDIA bloc’s last month meeting had come days after The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi objected on record at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions and orders on the SIR that they said were issued without their knowledge or recommendation.

Under fire over red flags raised by two of its commissioners over the SIR process, the EC has said differing views and observations are normal in any institution’s deliberations, and that all its orders carry full legal sanction and follow established statutory procedures.