Indian Opposition Leaders Detained After Protest Outside Election Commission Headquarters

Delhi Police detained Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other Opposition leaders on Tuesday night, ending a nearly nine-hour sit-in at Akashvani Bhavan after the INDIA bloc was prevented from reaching the Election Commission headquarters. The leaders were taken away in buses after refusing to leave until they could meet Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Indian Express reported. The confrontation centred on the Opposition’s demand for a meeting with the poll panel. Election Commission officials, however, said no political party had submitted a request for one. The INDIA bloc has sought Kumar’s resignation and withdrawal of the SIR exercise. Tuesday’s march was part of a widening campaign against the poll panel, with Opposition parties alleging irregularities in the revision of voter lists. The Indian Express reported that Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other leaders detained at Akashvani Bhavan were taken to New Police Lines in Kingsway Camp. The protest began with Opposition MPs marching from Parliament Street towards the Election Commission office. Security personnel stopped them near the NITI Aayog office, prompting the MPs to sit on the road and insist that they be allowed to proceed. Rahul Gandhi climbed a police barricade during the confrontation, with Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee joining him. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was initially taken to a waiting bus after being detained, but got off and joined her brother near the Akashvani Bhavan gate. The Gandhi siblings and Congress MP Deepender Hooda subsequently entered the premises through the reception gate and sat under a tree. Police personnel asked them to vacate, but they refused, saying they wanted to go to the Election Commission headquarters. The standoff continued for hours as other Opposition leaders gathered at the premises. Congress leader Pawan Khera and party workers remained there, while Trinamool Congress MPs Derek O’Brien and Mahua Moitra also reached the site. Several MPs had been detained earlier in the day and taken to different police stations. They included Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Abhishek Banerjee, Kalyan Banerjee, Derek O’Brien and Congress MP Imran Masood. Speaking to reporters from inside Akashvani Bhavan, Gandhi said the protest was aimed at defending democracy. “We are not only countering them. I have no interest in what the BJP is saying. I’m standing here to save democracy. Other MPs are also trying the same,” he said. He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and Kumar of having “finished democracy” in the country. “Youth of our country have understood this. Even the police officers were also telling me the same thing. They have done vote chori and hijacked the elections,” Gandhi alleged. Opposition leaders maintained throughout the day that they would continue the protest until they were allowed to meet Kumar and raise their allegations directly. Congress whip Manickam Tagore told Indian Express that 237 MPs from both Houses of Parliament had participated in the Opposition protest. The agitation follows several days of demonstrations by political parties, student groups and civil society organisations in central Delhi. Tuesday’s detentions brought the prolonged sit-in to an end, while the Opposition’s demands remained focused on Kumar’s resignation and reversal of the electoral roll exercise.