Arya News - After nearly 9 hours, police stormed the Akashvani Bhavan building and forcefully removed the Congress leaders.
NEW DELHI – High drama unfolded at Akashvani Bhavan in New Delhi as Delhi Police detained Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who led the INDIA bloc’s protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged “vote theft” and SIR exercise.
Led by Rahul Gandhi, Opposition MPs marched towards the Election Commission building but were stopped by the police.
Several Opposition leaders, including Akhilesh Yadav, Abhishek Banerjee, Kalyan Banerjee, Derek O’Brien, Imran Masood, P Santosh and A Rahim were detained and sent away in buses.
However, Rahul, along with several other senior Congress leaders, surprised the police and went to Akashvani Bhavan, a building adjacent to the Election Commission of India, and sat on a dharna.
Hours passed and backdoor negotiations to end the protest failed as Rahul Gandhi refused to end his protest until the Opposition MPs were allowed to meet CEC Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
After nearly 9 hours, police stormed the Akashvani Bhavan building and forcefully removed the Congress leaders.
The Opposition leaders were stuffed in buses and sent away, prompting a scathing attack from the Congress party.
“When peaceful dissent is met with detention and mistreatment, one question stands above all: What is the government afraid of?” the Congress asked.
Sharing the video of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi being removed, the Opposition party warned, “Remember the traitors of the nation – action will be taken against everyone and accounts will be settled”.
The were released after around two hours.
What triggered the latest wave of protests against CEC Gyanesh Kumar?
While Rahul Gandhi has been raising the issue of “vote chori” for quite some time, the issue generated renewed interest among the Opposition parties after a news report on alleged dissent within the Election Commission of India.
The report by The Indian Express claimed that two ECs – Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi – formally recorded their dissent at least 14 times over the past 10 months.
They reportedly objected to several of the poll panel’s decisions that they alleged were taken without their consent.
The two ECs also objected to modification in Form 6 used to enrol new voters under the SIR exercise. They called these changes “illegal”.
The Opposition was quick to latch onto the issue, accusing CEC Kumar of taking unilateral decisions in order to help the BJP win elections.
Certain Opposition leaders even demanded the immediate resignation of CEC Kumar and cancellation of all elections held under his watch.
Today’s march was also part of the INDIA bloc’s planned protest against the poll panel chief. Separately, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has also called for a mega protest against Gyanesh Kumar at Jantar Mantar on October 10.
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