Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi detained during protest against CEC Gyanesh Kumar
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Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was detained by Delhi Police on Tuesday evening, around nine hours after he led INDIA Bloc MPs and supporters in a march from Parliament to the Election Commission office in New Delhi.
His sister and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who was leading the protest alongside him, was also detained.
Visuals showed the two being taken onto a police bus.
The detention took place around 8 pm. Sources told NDTV that Rahul Gandhi and other detained leaders were being taken to Kingsway Camp in north Delhi.
The two leaders had also been briefly detained around noon and made to board a police bus. They were later seen leaving the vehicle and jumping over the gate of Akashvani Bhawan to resume the sit-in protest there.
The INDIA Bloc organised the protest over what the Opposition has described as unilateral decisions by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The protesters were demanding Kumar’s resignation.
The MPs had marched from the Parliament complex towards Nirvachan Sadan, the Election Commission’s headquarters. Protesters carried “Save Democracy” banners and raised slogans against Kumar.
During the protest, Rahul Gandhi questioned why Opposition MPs were not being allowed to meet the Election Commission. He said around 300 MPs wanted to meet Kumar and questioned why the poll panel was refusing to meet them.
“If the representatives of the people cannot meet the Election Commission, then what is the meaning of democracy?” Gandhi said, according to remarks shared by Congress sources.
The Opposition has been developing a broader protest strategy against the Chief Election Commissioner following a meeting last week. The campaign has also received support from the satirical Cockroach Janta Party, which has sought to represent Gen-Z participation in the campaign.