Rahul Gandhi says Opposition will continue EC protest, asks Delhi Police to provide alternative venue

Gandhi said the Opposition had no objection to protesting inside the Akashvani Bhavan premises, but asked the Delhi Police to provide an alternative venue if it was "uncomfortable" with the demonstration.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the Opposition would continue its protest at Akashvani Bhavan after INDIA Bloc MPs were stopped from reaching the Election Commission of India (ECI) headquarters in New Delhi.

Gandhi said the Opposition had no objection to protesting inside the Akashvani Bhavan premises, but asked the Delhi Police to provide an alternative venue if it was "uncomfortable" with the demonstration.

"We don't have any problem with protesting here... We will continue our protests here... If they (Delhi Police) are uncomfortable with us protesting here, they can provide us with another place to protest... The Constitution allows us to lodge a protest," Gandhi told reporters at Akashvani Bhavan.

Earlier in the day, INDIA Bloc MPs marched towards Nirvachan Sadan, the ECI headquarters, to raise concerns over the electoral roll revision process. The march was halted by barricades put up by the police, following which the MPs staged a sit-in at the nearby Akashvani complex, around 100 metres from the poll panel's office.

Several MPs, including Gandhi, were seen scaling barricades as they attempted to move towards the Election Commission headquarters.

Leaders from several INDIA Bloc parties took part in the demonstration, which is part of the Opposition's wider "Save Democracy" campaign. The campaign includes protests and public programmes targeting the Election Commission over the electoral roll revision exercise.

Tensions rose during the march when Congress workers and INDIA Bloc supporters tried to force their way towards Nirvachan Sadan, resulting in scuffles with security personnel.

Police later detained Congress cadres who had entered the Akashvani Bhavan premises. Prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) were in force in the area following the march.

An officer also directed Indian Youth Congress and NSUI workers gathered outside the building to leave, saying the assembly was illegal. The officer warned that those refusing to comply would be detained. The workers were subsequently taken away in a police bus.

Gandhi also criticised the Election Commission and the police for preventing Opposition MPs from meeting commission officials.

"300 opposition MPs were removed from there, so I came here and sat. We just want to meet Gyanesh Kumar and the other election commissioners. We are all opposition MPs from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and we just want to talk to them. Don't know why the Election Commission does not want to talk to us. Crores of people have voted for us. We just want to ask questions, but they don't want to answer," he said.

Targeting the Centre and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Gandhi said, "The democracy is finished. Narendra Modi ji, Amit Shah, Mohan Bhagwat and Gyanesh Kumar have finished the vote. The nation has understood. In a way, Narendra Modi ji and Amit Shah ji have hijacked the country. We are trying to 'Save the Constitution'."

The latest confrontation comes against the backdrop of an Indian Express report claiming that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised 14 objections during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. The Election Commission has maintained that decisions taken during the exercise were unanimous.

Opposition parties have also questioned changes made to Form 6, which is used for the enrolment of new voters.

The issue came up in the Supreme Court on Monday, when the court said it had not approved any modified version of Form 6 for the enrolment of new voters during the SIR exercise.

(With IANS inputs)

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