Congress gets police nod for Nov 1 Ramlila rally

New Delhi: The Congress-led INDIA bloc has received a no-objection certificate (NOC) from Delhi Police for its November 1 rally at Ramlila Maidan against alleged electoral irregularities, but the permission comes with a set of conditions related to crowd management, CCTV surveillance, speeches, transport and the time by which the gathering must disperse.

The Opposition alliance plans to hold its biggest rally against alleged "vote chori", demanding accountability over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The Congress has set a target of gathering 10 lakh people for the event and is mobilising party workers and supporters from across the country. According to the police, the Congress has been granted a no-objection certificate for the rally, subject to permission from the authority that owns the land.

The rally itself is scheduled for November 1, between 10 am and 5 pm.

The organisers have also been directed to install high-definition cameras at strategic locations, including the entry and exit gates, the stage, the surrounding areas of Ramlila Maidan and the seating enclosures. The surveillance arrangements must include recording facilities, monitoring systems with at least five screens and a dedicated CCTV control room.

The organisers must provide sufficient water tankers and toilet blocks, with separate facilities for women, and deploy an adequate number of volunteers to manage the gathering. The volunteers must wear identical clothing or carry common badges so that they can be identified easily.

One of the explicit conditions is that the rally must end at 5 pm on November 1, after which the dispersal must begin. The police have said the programme cannot be extended under any circumstances.

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The Hans India