Leaders of the INDIA bloc, including the Congress, have been holding protests in Delhi against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over issues including SIR, according to reports. A day earlier, when they marched towards the Election Commission office, police stopped them and later detained Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and others before releasing them.
To discuss the next phase of the agitation, INDIA bloc leaders met at a restaurant in Delhi at the initiative of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. After the meeting and a meal, they boarded a bus to head to Jantar Mantar, where they planned to stage a protest.
Police stopped the leaders and MPs as they set out from the restaurant on Janpath Road. Officers said prior permission was mandatory to protest at Jantar Mantar and that an application had to be submitted to the Deputy Commissioner 10 days in advance.
As the bloc’s MPs attempted to proceed despite the restriction, a scuffle broke out between them and the police. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra got down from a vehicle and lay on the road in protest; she was later carried away and detained by women police personnel.
Rahul Gandhi, who also tried to move past the police cordon, was lifted and taken to a police van, where he was detained, the report said.
