Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Among 250 Others Detained in New Delhi
Delhi Police detained Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and around 250 others...
NEW DELHI- Delhi Police detained Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and around 250 others, including about 50 MPs, late Tuesday after a prolonged sit-in protest near the Election Commission headquarters.
The INDIA bloc leaders had marched from Parliament towards Nirvachan Sadan (the Election Commission office) to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. They alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and “vote chori” (vote theft). Police stopped the procession near the All India Radio (Akashvani) Bhawan / NITI Aayog area with heavy barricades and a large security presence, preventing them from advancing the short remaining distance.
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Protesters then staged a dharna. Rahul Gandhi climbed a police barricade and waved the national flag at one point; Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee joined him. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was briefly put on a police bus but got off and rejoined the group.
Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and others including Congress MP Deepender Hooda entered the Akashvani Bhawan premises through a gate and sat under a tree, turning the halted march into an hours-long sit-in that lasted roughly eight to nine hours.
Other opposition figures present or detained at various stages included Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, KC Venugopal, Pawan Khera, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, and TMC leaders Derek O’Brien and Abhishek Banerjee. Police later cleared the premises and took detainees, including the Gandhi siblings, to New Police Lines at Kingsway Camp in north Delhi.
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Speaking to the media from inside the Akashvani premises during the sit-in, Rahul Gandhi framed the protest as a defence of democracy. He said: “I don’t care what the BJP says. I am standing here to protect democracy… What has been done to the country is treason. Be it PM Modi, Shah, the RSS chief or Gyanesh Kumar, none will be spared.” He also stated that “the country has been hijacked by Narendra Modi through vote theft” and that “what has been done to our country is called treason. Nobody is going to escape.”
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He questioned the denial of access: “If 300 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs cannot meet the Chief Election Commissioner, what is the meaning of democracy? We represent the people of India… The Election Commission is just 50 yards away, yet they are not allowing us to go there.”
Gandhi further said the group was prepared to stay as long as needed and reiterated the demand for a meeting with the CEC over alleged electoral roll issues. On X earlier, he posted: “Gyanesh, it’s done, bro. Time to resign.”
Congress leaders described the action as an attempt to silence legitimate protest. The opposition has accused the Election Commission of bias and irregularities in the voter-list revision process. The EC and the ruling BJP have rejected the allegations, maintaining that procedures were followed. Police had cited restrictions on gatherings and said the overnight sit-in would not be permitted.
