By Prachi Mishra
In a rare dramatic turn of events, many opposition leaders were held-up in New Delhi on Monday, which included the likes of Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Karge, leader of the opposition of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively, after they marched from the Parliament to the ECI (Election Commission of India) office to protest against what they call as electoral practices.
As many as 300 opposition leaders wearing caps and carrying banners accumulated for this protest shouting slogans like ‘stolen elections’, and jumping barricades, before they were detained and taken away in buses. Following the march, the protesters which also consisted of several MPs like Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav staged a sit-in demonstration against the SIR ‘Special Intensive Revision’ against the Bihar Electoral Rolls near transport Bhawan, which is just a few kms away from the ECI office.
Twitter clips of the protest show several MPs like Sushmita Dev, Mahua Moitra and Akhilesh Yadav directly clashing with the police and trying to climb the barricades with the placards in hand that read as “VOTE CHORI” (Vote theft) and “SIR: Stealing Democratic Rights”.
Two Trinamool Congress MPs, Mahua Moitra – who is known for her fiery speeches in the parliament and Mitali Bag – Arambagh Lok Sabha MP fainted during the protest and were provided first-aid by their fellow protesters. Bag had to be taken to the hospital later.
Upon being detained, Rahul Gandhi told reporters that, “The fight is not political, but to save the constitution.” Mallikarjun Kharge, the current Congress chief added that, “BJPs cowardly dictatorship will not work.”
The detained MPs were taken to the Parliament Street Police Station and released post 2 PM. The Election Commission on Sunday had asked Jairam Ramesh, Congress MP and general secretary media- and communications incharge to share a list of 30 members along with their vehicle numbers for this meeting citing limited space. But, the opposition were of the view-point that they wished to present a memorandum and were not wanting a delegation of any sorts.
Some analysts are of the opinion that the accusations put forth by the opposition may hamper PM Narendra Modi’s reputation and could result into one of the toughest periods in his entire tenure of 11 years in office.