Rahul Gandhi, 50 MPs detained during protest near EC office demanding Gyanesh Kumar resignation

The Delhi Police on Tuesday detained Opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi after they held a sit-in protest for more than seven hours at a site near the Election Commission headquarters.

Around 250 persons, including 50 MPs, had been detained, PTI quoted the police as saying. This was the second time during the day that the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha was detained.

The Opposition MPs had begun the sit-in protest at the Akashvani Bhawan in the afternoon after they were released following a brief detention during an INDIA bloc march to demand Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.

The Akashvani Bhawan is the office of the All India Radio and is located next to the Election Commission headquarters.

The Opposition’s march came as protests are being held in several parts of the country calling for Kumar to resign over concerns about the functioning of the Election Commission and its handling of the special intensive revision of electoral rolls.

The march on Tuesday started from Parliament complex and was stopped by the Delhi Police about half a kilometre away on Parliament Street before the demonstrators could reach the poll panel’s office.

Gandhi was among several Opposition MPs who were briefly detained.

After being released, he and other Congress leaders entered the premises of the Akashvani Bhawan in an attempt to reach the...

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