Police in New Delhi detained opposition lawmakers, including Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, during a march demanding the resignation of the chief election commissioner over voter-list revisions.
Indian police detained several opposition lawmakers in New Delhi on Tuesday after they tried to breach barricades on a march calling for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign over a revision of voter lists.
Reuters said Congress and other parties argue the revised rolls benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party. Protesters carried placards accusing the commission of taking away the right to vote and sat outside the panel's office asking to meet Kumar. Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi stood on police barricades waving the national flag, Reuters reported.
Television channels told Reuters the Gandhi siblings were among those briefly detained and then released in the morning. The Hindu BusinessLine later reported that police removed Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and other Congress leaders from a sit-in at Akashvani Bhavan after nearly eight hours and took them to Kingsway Camp. Congress said the group had been arrested.
Rahul Gandhi wrote on X that Kumar should resign and alleged that roll revisions had deleted 13 crore voters. The Election Commission had not issued a matching figure in the reports reviewed. Delhi Police said the gathering violated restrictions on mass assemblies.
Congress leader K.C. Venugopal said after the removal that arrest would not silence the party. No resignation by Kumar had been announced by Tuesday evening.
People Sentiments Negative
- K.C. Venugopal asked whether arresting the protesters would silence them and said the party's protest would continue.
- Rahul Gandhi posted that the election chief should resign.