New Delhi: The Opposition’s showdown with the Election Commission intensified on Wednesday as police detained Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and several INDIA bloc leaders for the second straight day while they marched towards Jantar Mantar demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi led the march after opposition MPs gathered for a lunch hosted by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. The leaders boarded three buses from Janpath and set out for the designated protest site, but their procession was stopped about a kilometre away by a multi-layered police cordon near the Shangri-La hotel.
With Jantar Mantar still beyond the barricades, opposition MPs staged a sit-in on Ashoka Road and raised slogans against the Election Commission. Police cited restrictions under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita while preventing the leaders from proceeding.
The standoff quickly turned tense as security personnel moved to disperse the protesters. Gandhi resisted attempts to place him in a police vehicle, while Priyanka Gandhi and several women leaders lay on the road, with the Congress general secretary holding up a copy of the Constitution.
Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi were eventually taken away in police buses and vans along with several other opposition leaders. The detainees were taken to a central Delhi police station, as reported by The New Indian Express.
‘Gyanesh Kumar Must Resign’
“We are not going to stop protesting till (Chief Election Commissioner) Gyanesh Kumar resigns. This is a fight to protect the most sacred thing in this country. There is nothing that Narendra Modi and Amit Shah can do that will stop us,” Rahul Gandhi said.
The protest followed an INDIA bloc lunch at the Sagar Ratna restaurant on Janpath. Although the Samajwadi Party did not attend, and representatives of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP-SP were absent because of prior commitments, the Congress said the meeting had been convened at short notice.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said every INDIA bloc constituent had been invited and dismissed what he called “unnecessary comments” about the absence of some parties. He said the alliance remained united against alleged “vote theft”, the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and delimitation.
Kharge Rejects Intimidation
Congress leaders later claimed that the bus carrying Rahul Gandhi was punctured while he was being taken away. The party described the incident on social media as the work of its “Babbar lions”, though the claim could not be independently verified.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Election Commission of making mistakes and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was responsible for them.
“We have decided that we will together take the voice of the people to the country. We will tell the people that their rights are being taken away. We are working hard to protest those rights of people. We are all united and will continue to fight against this government,” Kharge said.
Responding to FIRs against Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, he added, “You may register as many cases as you want; we are not going to be scared.”
The protest was the latest in a series of demonstrations triggered by Opposition allegations of irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision process and differences among election commissioners. The campaign intensified after a September 25 Indian Express report raised questions about the revision exercise.
In a video posted on X after his detention, Rahul Gandhi said, “Prime Minister Modi, Amit Shah, (RSS chief) Mohan Bhagwat and Gyanesh Kumar can do all this, but we are going to bring them to justice. My guarantee that all four of them will be brought to justice.”
“This is all a panic reaction. This is all fear. They are going to be brought to justice, mark my words,” he added.
