New Delhi: Hours after Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi led a demonstration from Parliament to the Election Commission and began a sit-in near the poll body's office to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the Delhi Police cracked down on the protesters and tried to remove them from the site.
Earlier, Gandhi, stopped by several layers of police barricades, suddenly climbed on one of them and waved a large national flag. That drew loud slogans of support from leaders and workers who had turned out in large numbers to join the protest organised by the INDIA Bloc over the alleged "unilateral" decisions taken by Kumar and "irregularities" Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls.
Soon after that, Gandhi and sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were briefly detained and taken on a police bus. The siblings were seen stepping out of the bus some time later.
"The Election Commission office is barely 50 metres away, but we were not allowed to go there. I do not understand what the problem is. The Election Commission's job is to conduct elections properly. At least 300 MPs want to meet Gyanesh Kumar. But he is scared. I don't know what's happening in the country," Rahul Gandhi told reporters.
"If the representatives of the people cannot meet the Election Commission, then what is the meaning of democracy?" he said.
Congress sources said the party has sent a letter seeking an appointment with the Chief Election Commissioner and the two Election Commissioners.
If an official from the Election Commission comes and gives an assurance of a meeting within the next day or two, Gandhi might call off his ongoing sit-in protest today. But his condition is that all 300 MPs will participate in the meeting," said a source.
Protest Plan
The Opposition MPs began the march from the parliament compound and headed towards Nirvachan Sadan, the Election Commission's headquarters. They held banners that read "Save Democracy" and also shouted slogans against Gyanesh Kumar.
The Opposition bloc has decided on the blueprint for a protest against Gyanesh Kumar. The bloc had been in a huddle since their meeting last week to formulate a strategy on a matter that had made headlines and received support from the Gen-Z - represented by the satirical political group Cockroach Janta Party.
Two key opposition parties - the DMK and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) - have stayed away from the INDIA bloc march. As the principal Opposition party, the Congress will lead the protest roadmap all the way to the winter session of parliament to keep the issues linked to the ECI and Gyanesh Kumar alive. While the Congress and the Samajwadi Party would ideally like the issue to remain relevant until the assembly elections in five states scheduled for February, their current strategy focuses on sustaining the momentum until the next parliamentary session.
Source: NDTV