Delhi Police on Monday detained several INDIA bloc MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Sanjay Raut, and Sagarika Ghose, as they staged a protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.
The lawmakers, who began a march from Parliament House to the Election Commission of India (ECI) headquarters, were stopped midway near Transport Bhawan.
"The reality is that they cannot talk. The truth is in front of the country. This fight is not political. This fight is to save the Constitution. This fight is for One Man, One Vote. We want a clean, pure voters list,"Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said.
"The Modi government is scared. They are cowards," Priyanka Gandhi told the media after she was detained along with other opposition members.
Trinamool MPs Mahua Moitra and Mitali Bag taken ill after detention inside cramped bus.
Earlier in the day, senior Opposition leaders such as Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, and Sharad Pawar led the march, protesting what they called “vote chori” and demanding a rollback of the SIR.
When police blocked their path, many MPs sat on the road, holding placards and shouting slogans.
The protesters wore white caps marked with a red cross over the words “SIR” and “vote chori,” and carried banners reading “SIR+Vote Theft=Murder of Democracy” and “SIR - Loktantra Par Vaar.” Another placard questioned, “SIR par chuppi kyu.”
Before starting from Parliament’s Makar Dwar, the MPs sang the national anthem. Police had set up barricades and deployed additional personnel along Parliament Street, announcing via loudspeaker that the march could not proceed further.
Prominent participants included T R Baalu (DMK), Derek O’Brien (TMC), Akhilesh Yadav (SP), as well as leaders from the DMK, RJD, and Left parties.
Some of the women MPs like Ranjeeta Ranjan and Jothimanu from the Congress and Sagarika Ghose, Mahua Moitra and Sushmita Dev of the Trinamool Congress climbed the barricade.
The Samajwadi Party chief and Kannauj MP jumped over the barricade.
The Aam Aadmi Party which is no longer a member of the INDIA bloc too joined the “vote-fraud” protests.
The women MPs squatted on the road joined by Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who joined the Jadavpur MP Sayani Ghosh’s “Jabab chai, Jabab dao” cries, while the leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi looked on from a distance.
Akhilesh Yadav too sat on the road. “They are using the police to stop us,” Akhilesh said.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had earlier informed the ECI about the planned march and sought a meeting “on a host of issues, including but not limited to Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls being undertaken in Bihar and proposed to be undertaken in other states as well.”
In his letter, he added, “We look forward to meeting with the Commission which will be in keeping with the highest tradition of our parliamentary democracy.”
On Thursday Rahul had made an expose on the alleged fraudulent practices in the electoral system, to which the EC has only offered criticism and stonewalled answering.
The EC on Sunday refused to reveal why the names of voters dropped from the draft electoral rolls in Bihar have been dropped after the special intensive revision.
“For me, the issue is very simple. Rahul Gandhi has raised some serious questions; they deserve serious answers. The EC not only has a responsibility to the nation, but it has a responsibility to itself that there should be no doubts left in the minds of the public about this entire credibility of our elections,” said Shashi Tharoor, the Thiruvananthapuram MP who joined Monday’s protests.
“The elections matter to the whole country. Our democracy is too precious too be jeopardised by doubts about whether there is duplicate voting, whether there are multiple addresses, or whetehr there are fake voters. If there are doubts in people’s minds, they should be addressed,” Tharoor added.
