New Delhi: Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition (LOP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was removed from outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence on Jan Kalyan Marg by personnel of the Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) on Tuesday evening.
Party MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge were also taken to the Parliament House police station along with Rahul. The police cited security reasons for their action.
In a flash protest, Rahul left Parliament on Tuesday morning and reached Jan Kalyan Marg for the sit-in demonstration. He demanded an apology to students from PM Modi and also his resignation along with those of Union home minister Amit Shah and Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
This came after Monday’s “Sansad Chalo” March by members and supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Monday. There were clashes after the police and RAF personnel attempted to stop the March towards Parliament.
Several protesters, including students were injured after the security personnel used batons and tear gas to disperse them. Several policemen were also injured and government property vandalised.
Rahul, Priyanka and other Congress leaders met some of the injured protesters at hospital on Tuesday morning before beginning his demonstration outside the PM’s residence.
Within 15 minutes, Jitendra Singh, the minister of state of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), met Rahul and urged him to call off the protest, assuring discussions on the matter. The LOP refused to entertain his request and the protest continued.
Some leaders said that Rahul and the other leaders planned to continue with their protest overnight. Around 6.40 pm, security personnel arrived with a bus and escorted Rahul, Priyanka, Kharge and other leaders into it. The bus was driven to the Parliament Street police station.
Before being detained, Rahul appealed to citizens to join the protest, calling Monday’s police action against students “an attack on every Indian family”.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav could also be seen crossing police barricades to reach the protest site outside the PM’s residence. He was also removed from the site.