INDIA bloc's daylong protest over alleged "vote chori" escalated into a high-voltage confrontation with the Delhi Police on Tuesday, with Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and several other opposition leaders being detained after they marched towards the Election Commission's office. The leaders were released after spending nearly two hours in detention, bringing an end to almost nine hours of protest and high drama in central Delhi.
The developments came after Rahul Gandhi took centre stage in the opposition's street protest, bringing Parliament Street to a standstill. The protest ended with his detention after opposition MPs were stopped from marching towards the Election Commission's office in the morning.
The protest came amid the Opposition's sustained campaign against alleged discrepancies in electoral rolls and its demand for greater transparency from the poll panel. The protest was a part of a broader "Save Democracy" campaign announced by the Opposition, under which its leaders have been holding demonstrations and public programmes against the ECI.
( image credits: pti )
While most opposition MPs were detained and prevented from moving forward, Rahul Gandhi, along with other Congress MPs including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, entered the Akashvani Bhawan premises, barely 200 metres from the EC office, insisting that they be allowed to meet the election commissioners.
Meanwhile, Congress claimed that it had requested a meeting with the Election Commission.
( image credits: pti )
However, the poll panel said on Tuesday evening that no political party had sought an appointment for a meeting with it till 4 pm. It said it was later informed by the police that the meeting being sought was to be held with a group of 240 MPs at the Parliament House complex.
Key developments from INDIA BLOC March
- Following their detention, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other leaders were taken to New Police Lines, Kingsway Camp, and were later released.
-Their sit-in began around noon and continued until after 8 pm, when Delhi police forcibly removed Gandhi from the spot and pushed him and others into police vans and buses as the MPs resisted.
- The INDIA bloc took to the streets from Parliament Street to the EC office earlier in the day as Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, along with some others, entered the Akashvani Bhawan premises in a bid to reach the poll panel's headquarters.
ALSO READ: Rahul Gandhi Removed After 9 Hour Sit-In; Video Shows High Drama At Akashvani Bhawan | Watch
- Rahul Gandhi climbed atop multi-layer steel barricades, stood on them and waved the tricolour before slipping through the police cordons to enter the premises of the All India Radio (AIR).
( image credits: pti )
- Congress leaders staged a sit-in protest at Akashvani Bhavan after leaders of several INDIA bloc parties were stopped during a march towards Nirvachan Sadan, the headquarters of the Election Commission of India.
- Several opposition leaders, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Trinamool Congress MPs Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O'Brien, were detained after police stopped the march.
- Gandhi alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat have "hijacked" the country through "vote chori". They were helped by Gyanesh Kumar, he added.
- The Congress leader also said that he was standing to protect democracy in the country, along with 300 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs.
( image credits: pti )
"All I want to do is meet the Chief Election Commissioner and tell him that he has done 'vote chori'. I can continue to sit here. I am comfortable here," the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha said earlier.
- The Congress said that "LOP-Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has been dragged away from a peaceful sit-in protest" and called it a "sign of a regime that knows its exit is imminent".
- The BJP called the INDIA bloc MPs protest against the Election Commission as "theatrics on the street", alleging that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was trying to create anarchy with his "baseless" allegation of "vote-chori" instead of working diligently to regain people's faith in favour of his party to win elections.
( image credits: pti )
- During the protest at Akashvani Bhawan, Rahul Gandhi asked the Election Commissioners to meet the opposition leaders and answer their questions regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across the nation.
- While the INDIA bloc leaders stated they wanted to meet the Election Commissioners, the Election Commission of India (ECI) clarified that no political party had sought an appointment with the poll panel until 4 pm.
- The poll panel said it considered the proposed venue and the manner in which the meeting was sought “unusual” in view of its established protocol.
- The Delhi Police said it detained Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other INDIA bloc leaders from the Akashvani Bhavan premises to "maintain law and order" and prevent the situation from deteriorating. It said they had entered the premises "without permission" and staged a sit-in protest.
( image credits: pti )
- Delhi Police said that no official permission had been sought or granted for the rally. The police said that after repeated non-compliance, security forces detained around 260 individuals, including 10 Members of Parliament.
- Opposition leaders have also raised questions over the modification in Form 6. The Supreme Court on Monday said that it had not approved any modified version of Form 6 being used for the enrolment of new voters during the SIR exercise.
- The march comes in the backdrop of an Indian Express report, which claimed that two of the Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, raised 14 objections during the SIR exercise. The Election Commission has maintained that the decisions were unanimous.