Rahul Gandhi was among multiple leaders and MPs detained amid the Opposition’s protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral Rolls being undertaken in Bihar and planned in other states. According to some social media posts, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav jumped the barricades as other opposition leaders continued their march from the Parliament House to Nirvachan Sadan.
However, Delhi Police blocked the march shortly after it began, preventing the leaders from proceeding further. The protest was led by prominent figures, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, who are seeking to draw attention to what the opposition alleges and attempts to manipulate the voter list.
“We are not being allowed to meet the Election Commission. More than 300 MPs from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha are marching here. Police are arresting the MPs here and not allowing us to meet the EC…,” Congress MP Syed Naseer Hussain speaks to the media.
Wearing white caps with a red cross and the words ‘SIR’ and “vote chori”, the protesting MPs raised slogans against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar while carrying placards and banners. Before embarking on the protest march at Parliament’s Makar Dwar, they sang the national anthem.
The Police had made elaborate arrangements and placed barricades next to the Transport Bhawan on Parliament Street to stop the protesting MPs from moving forward. The police asked the MPs not to proceed further and made an announcement through a loudspeaker, as they were prevented from moving forward to the Election Commission headquarters, a short distance from Parliament House.
Prominent among those who participated in the march were T.R. Baalu (DMK), Sanjay Raut (SS-UBT), Derek O’Brien (TMC), Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, as well as other MPs from opposition parties like the DMK, the RJD, and Left parties. TMC MPs Mahua Moitra and Sushmita Dev, along with Congress MPs Sanjana Jatav and Jothimani, climbed barricades outside Transport Bhawan and raised slogans against the Election Commission (EC) after police blocked their path.
Congress MP Pramod Tiwari compared the INDIA bloc’s march to Mahatma Gandhi’s historic Dandi march. The Election Commission granted an appointment to Congress MP Jairam Ramesh for an interaction at noon on Monday, but Tiwari said the party would “think about it.”
