The INDIA alliance against the Election Commission had made a strategy in the meeting held recently and today all the MPs came out for a march from the Makar Gate of the Parliament to the Election Commission office. This demonstration of INDIA alliance maintained political turmoil in the capital throughout the day. The attacking opposition under the leadership of Congress has now entered the field to fight on the issue of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and a glimpse of it was seen today. All the MPs of INDIA alliance marched and many leaders were detained by the police. After this, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi sat in protest at Akashvani Bhawan and in the evening the police also took them into custody. The Election Commission's statement has also come out on this entire incident.
The strategy for this demonstration was made in the meeting of INDIA alliance. All the opposition MPs gathered in the Parliament House for the demonstration. Leaders of all major opposition parties including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav and Abhishek Banerjee came together. A surprising thing was that the leaders of Biju Janata Dal (BJD), who till now remained away from the INDIA alliance, also joined the protest. However, Delhi Police had made preparations in advance and barricading was done at various places. After marching for some distance, Delhi Police started detaining the MPs.
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Rahul Gandhi climbed the barricade
When Delhi Police tried to stop the MPs, the MPs sat on the road. Many leaders including Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, TMC's Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O'Brien were detained by the police. Rahul Gandhi also reached the barricade and despite being stopped by the police, he climbed over the barricade. After this he took the tricolor from a worker and hoisted the tricolor from the barricade itself. Rahul Gandhi claimed that more than 300 MPs are participating in the protest and he is the representative of crores of people.
Rahul-Priyanka entered Akashvani Bhawan
After this, the tone of the protest suddenly changed in the afternoon. The police had closed the road and opposition leaders were not being allowed to go towards the Election Commission office. Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, KC Venugopal, Pawan Kheda, Imran Pratapgarhi and other leaders kept trying to move forward. After this, some leaders including Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi went inside the Akashvani Bhawan complex. It is noteworthy that this building is just a few meters away from the Election Commission office. The guards present at the gate were trying to stop Rahul Gandhi but they failed. After this, some MPs including Priyanka Gandhi, KC Venugopal, Deependra Hooda, Charanjit Singh Channi, Pawan Kheda went inside.
Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi sat under the banyan tree present in the Akashvani complex. Congress leaders said that their aim is to reach the Election Commission peacefully and talk to the election commissioners. After this, Delhi Police appealed to Rahul Gandhi to leave from there but Rahul Gandhi did not agree. He told the police that you have only two options. First, he should be allowed to reach the Election Commission office and second, he should be taken into custody. After some time, some other MPs also went inside and sat there on a mat. Arrangements for tea and food were also made, which indicated that Rahul Gandhi was not going to move away from there. However, the police announced through the mike that demonstration was not allowed at this location. Meanwhile, MPs from other opposition parties including TMC also started arriving at the protest.
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Delhi Police took action
By evening, the police started taking action and after the protest that lasted for about nine hours, Delhi Police reached Akashvani Bhawan premises and started removing the protesters. Several Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Pawan Kheda, KC Venugopal and Amarinder Singh Raja Vading, were detained. Earlier, many workers of Youth Congress and NSUI had also been detained. The police took action to take the protesters to different places in buses. According to the information received till the time of writing, Rahul Gandhi and other MPs have been kept in the Kingsway Camp Police Line. After some time, Rahul Gandhi and other MPs were released.
What did the election commission say?
The Commission has issued its statement regarding this protest against the Election Commission. The Commission said that no formal request had been received from any political party till 4 pm to meet the Commission. According to the Commission, Delhi Police informed it at around 4 pm that a delegation of MPs led by Rahul Gandhi wanted to meet the Commission and submit a memorandum. The Commission said that a fixed procedure was made for meeting political parties and joint delegations in 2025, under which the authorized representative of the concerned party or parties has to first take time and then the meeting is fixed by mutual consent. The Commission says that no formal request was received under this process till 4 pm on Tuesday. The Commission also said that the political parties have been informed about this process in advance and all the parties have been meeting the Commission under this arrangement.
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What did BJP say?
Bharatiya Janata Party is continuously attacking the performance of the opposition. Even before the protest started, Sambit Patra from the party held a press conference and attacked the Congress. He said that it is not Gyanesh ji but Ganesh ji who is helping BJP. Accusing Congress, he said that Congress has launched Rahul Gandhi many times and now they want to make him the Prime Minister directly. Along with this, while talking to the media and on social media, other leaders also accused the Congress Party and Rahul Gandhi of spreading anarchy.