On day of action-packed protest, Rahul takes centre stage of street politics

The leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday, 6 October, occupied the centre stage of the opposition's street protest, forcing a total lockdown of Parliament Street as he held a nearly nine-hour sit-in that ended with his forcible detention after opposition MPs were stopped from marching towards the Election Commission's office nearby.

Parliament Street witnessed one of its most intense political confrontations in recent years as Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, K.C. Venugopal and several other Congress leaders were forcefully removed and detained by Delhi Police after their dharna at Akashvani Bhavan premises demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The day started with the planned march by INDIA bloc parties at 10.30 a.m. from Parliament Street to Election Commision of India headquarters further down the road to protest the irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The police stopped them from marching ahead, Opposition leaders were being put into buses and the protest march seemed all but over. Far from it. Rahul Gandhi climbed a barricade near the NITI Aayog office, waved the Tricolour, climbed down and after a quick word with Priyanka, dashed towards the reception entrance of Akashvani Bhavan and pushed his way inside, catching many opposition MPs, including some from his own party, by surprise.

Soon Priyanka and other Congress leaders joined him under a tree near gate number 4. The dharna continued late into the evening.

After nearly nine hours of their sit-in inside Akashvani Bhawan premises a large number of police personnel forcibly removed Gandhi from there and pushed him and others into police vans and buses. As the MPs resisted, the police removed Rahul Gandhi, Venugopal, Pawan Khera, K Suresh, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Imran Pratapgarhi and cleared the All India Radio (AIR) premises.

There were scenes of jostling and scuffling between protesters and police, with a policeman seen locking his arms around Rahul Gandhi from behind. Police said nearly 250 people were detained.

When he was being dsragged from the protest site, Rahul Gandhi was seen peering out of a bus window as a large number of police personnel surrounded the vehicle. Congress sources said the detained leaders were being taken to Kingsway Camp police station.

Along with the Congress leaders, Trinamool Congress MPs Mahua Moitra and Derek O’Brien were also detained. O’Brien, posting from inside the bus, said the opposition MPs had been “bundled into a mini bus” and were being taken to an unknown location.

Akashvani Bhavan, which had turned into the centre of the political confrontation, was prepared for a long night of protest before the police action. Congress workers had spread mattresses and arranged tea and food for the protesting leaders.

“We have no problem sitting here. We are comfortable here. We have laid out mattresses here. There is a toilet here, and tea is also available. We will sit here for as long as we need to,” Rahul Gandhi said during the protest.

“We are protesting here against ‘vote theft’. If the government has a problem with us sitting here, then tell us where to sit and protest—we will sit there,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi said the protesters would remain at the site until they were allowed to meet CEC Gyanesh Kumar and tell him that he had committed “vote theft”.

The prolonged standoff at Akashvani Bhavan, followed by the late-evening detention of senior opposition leaders, marks a significant escalation in the Congress-led opposition's campaign against the Election Commission. , The party has asked its MPs to remain in Delhi as it prepares to sustain its agitation.

Meanwhile, in a late night reaction, the Election Commission said no political party had sought an appointment until 4 pm on Tuesday. It added that it learnt through media reports that certain MPs and delegations intended to meet its officials during the protest.