Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Among Opposition Leaders Detained in New Delhi
Rahul Gandhi and several opposition leaders were detained after INDIA bloc MPs were stopped while marching towards the Election Commission office, with Gandhi accusing the poll panel of avoiding elected representatives. 3. Tags
NEW DELHI: Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was detained by Delhi Police on Tuesday during an opposition protest near the Election Commission of India, after opposition MPs were stopped from marching towards the poll panel’s office.
Several opposition leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Trinamool Congress leaders, were also detained as opposition MPs attempted to reach the Election Commission to demand a meeting with the poll panel and raise their concerns over electoral issues.
The protesters had marched from Parliament towards the Election Commission office but were stopped by police barricades on Parliament Street. After being prevented from proceeding, opposition leaders staged a sit-in.
Rahul Gandhi and some other leaders climbed the police barricades during the protest. Gandhi was later taken away by police along with other detained leaders.
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What Rahul Gandhi said before the media
Speaking to reporters during the standoff at Akashvani Bhavan, Gandhi said the opposition leaders represented the people and questioned why they were not being allowed to meet the Election Commission.
“I am standing here to protect democracy in the country,” Gandhi told reporters, adding that around 300 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs had come to meet the Election Commission.
He questioned why the elected representatives were being prevented from reaching the poll panel when its office was nearby.
Gandhi also alleged that the Election Commission had failed to respond to the opposition’s concerns over what he described as “vote chori” and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of undermining democracy.
These were Gandhi’s allegations, not established findings in the reports cited here. The Election Commission, according to reporting by The Week, said it had not received a request from any political party for a meeting with the Chief Election Commissioner and the two Election Commissioners.
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‘None will be spared’, Gandhi says
Gandhi further alleged that those responsible for what he called the undermining of democratic institutions would face accountability.
“There will be action against them. None of them will be spared,” he said, referring to Modi, Shah, Bhagwat and Gyanesh Kumar. He described the alleged actions as “treason” and said nobody would escape accountability.
Earlier, Gandhi had also questioned why the Election Commission was not meeting the opposition MPs. He said the protesters would continue their sit-in and argued that the Constitution allowed them to protest.
Protest over electoral rolls
The demonstration was organised by opposition parties over their concerns regarding the electoral process and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The opposition was also demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The day’s confrontation brought heavy security deployment to central Delhi, with police using barricades to prevent the march from reaching the Election Commission headquarters.
The detention of Gandhi and other opposition leaders followed several hours of protest, turning the planned march into a prolonged standoff between opposition MPs and security personnel.
The immediate political issue remains the opposition’s demand to raise its electoral concerns directly with the Election Commission, while the poll panel’s reported position is that it had not received a formal request for such a meeting.
