Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was detained by Delhi Police on Tuesday evening after spending nearly nine hours protesting inside the Akashvani Bhawan premises as part of an INDIA bloc demonstration against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The protest began as an INDIA bloc march from Parliament towards the Election Commission headquarters, with opposition leaders demanding the resignation of Kumar and raising concerns over the electoral process and the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Police stopped the march near Akashvani Bhawan, following which several opposition leaders were detained.
Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, however, entered the Akashvani Bhawan premises along with other party leaders and staged a sit-in. Police repeatedly asked the protesters to vacate the premises, but they refused, insisting that they wanted to proceed to the Election Commission office and meet the poll panel.
During the standoff, Gandhi questioned the restrictions imposed on the protest and asked where the Opposition could demonstrate without being removed. “Where can I sit?” he asked, arguing that the Opposition only wanted an opportunity to meet the Chief Election Commissioner and the other Election Commissioners.
As the protest continued into the evening, Delhi Police moved in to clear the premises. Rahul Gandhi was eventually detained along with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other Congress leaders. Several INDIA bloc leaders, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Trinamool Congress MPs Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O’Brien, had already been detained during the march.
This is a breaking news. More details will be added soon.
