A joint opposition march against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar ended in an eight-hour sit-in by Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, and a police case against both of them. The protest, which began as a show of INDIA bloc unity, was reshaped by a Congress move that was not part of the plan.
MPs from several INDIA bloc parties, led by the Congress, marched from Parliament Street towards Nirvachan Sadan, the Election Commission’s headquarters, demanding Kumar’s removal over alleged electoral irregularities. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Trinamool Congress MPs Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O’Brien were among the participants.
Police stopped the march. Then, as one account puts it, the protest took an unexpected turn when Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra entered the Akashvani Bhavan premises and sat on a dharna. The sit-in came after most of the opposition MPs had already been detained, and in effect extended the protest. Akhilesh Yadav, Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O’Brien were among those taken into custody.
The result was that the allies’ detentions faded from view while the Gandhis stayed on the premises, under a banyan tree, insisting on meeting the Election Commission. From the stage of the sit-in, Rahul Gandhi said Prime Minister Modi, Home Minister Shah and the Chief Election Commissioner had destroyed democracy and “hijacked the nation.”
Rahul said the opposition would continue the protest and suggested that if Delhi Police were uncomfortable with the agitation, they should arrange an alternate venue. The Election Commission said it had received no request for a meeting with the CEC and the two Election Commissioners.
Police remove the leaders
After more than eight hours, the Gandhis were forcibly removed and taken to the Kingsway Camp police lines. They were released a little after 10 pm.
On Wednesday, Delhi Police registered an FIR against Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and other protesters for allegedly entering the Akashvani Bhavan premises by force. Employees of Akashvani approached police with a complaint against the protesters. Police said the protesters had no permission for the march, were asked to vacate the premises and refused.
The political fallout
The BJP seized on the FIR. It called Rahul Gandhi a “democracy wrecker” and accused him of creating anarchy and turning political protest into an attempt to discredit India’s constitutional institutions. The Congress and its allies cast the episode as the suppression of dissent.
The sit-in also sharpens an old question inside the INDIA bloc: who sets the terms of a joint protest. The bloc has strained before over coordination, with partners such as the TMC and the SP at times skipping or sitting out Congress-led agitations. This time, partners showed up, were detained, and watched the Congress’s two most prominent faces take the story forward.
