Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi detained from march to ECI over ‘vote fraud’

Delhi police on Monday detained INDIA bloc MPs, including Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi, citing no permission for protest after the MPs held a march against the Election Commission over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar and allegation of the “voter fraud” during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Speaking with ANI, Joint Commissioner of Police, New Delhi, Deepak Purohit, said that the detained leaders have been taken to the nearby police station.

The total number of detained MPs is still being ascertained, Joint CP Deepak Purohit said.

“The detained INDIA bloc leaders have been taken to a nearby Police Station. We are still counting the number of MPs detained. There was no permission for a protest here, but we had an intimation.”

The protest march began from the Makar Dwar of the Parliament under the leadership of Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi. The MPs began their march to urge the EC to address their concerns on the alleged “voter theft”.

The MPs were raising slogans of “vote chor” as they marched towards the office of the poll body at Nirvachan Sadan, before being halted by the Police.

Reinstating the Election Commission’s appointment for interaction with upto 30 people, the Police said they will take 30 MPs to the EC’s office upon receiving their names.

New Delhi DCP Devesh Kumar said, “There was a permission for 30 MPs from the Election Commission. Since they were in large numbers, we detained them. We have informed them that 30 MPs will be allowed (to meet ECI). We will take 30 MPs (to the Election Commission of India) when we get their names.”

Earlier in the day, the EC had granted an appointment for an interaction at 12:00 pm today on the request of the Congress Party.

In a letter addressed to Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, the Election Commission of India’s secretariat stated that the Commission has considered the request and decided to grant an appointment for an interaction.

The Election Commission had requested to submit the names of upto 30 people along with their vehicle numbers for the interaction due to the limitation of space.