Leaders of the INDIA opposition alliance are reportedly displeased after a march planned to showcase unity in Delhi allegedly turned into a protest centred on Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.
The alliance had organised a procession to the Election Commission office, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee were among those who took part.
As MPs moved in the march, they were stopped near Akashvani Bhavan and taken away in buses. While several opposition MPs, including Akhilesh Yadav and Abhishek Banerjee, were detained and transported, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, K C Venugopal and Pawan Khera entered the Akashvani Bhavan premises and staged a sit-in under a banyan tree for over eight hours before being arrested.
Sources said the unannounced sit-in drew the spotlight to Rahul and Priyanka, leaving other alliance partners unhappy. Some leaders also alleged that Congress took decisions on its own, including seeking permission to meet the Chief Election Commissioner. Reports said Kharge hosted a lunch for INDIA bloc leaders at a well-known Delhi hotel, seen by informed circles as an effort to ease tensions and restore coordination.
