Tensions rose in the national capital on Tuesday after police stopped an INDIA bloc march from Parliament to the Election Commission of India (ECI), with Opposition MPs demanding a meeting with the poll panel and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar after reports of dissent within the Election Commissioners and a row over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
‘Modi is scared’: Pawan Khera accuses government of fear
A police official ordered Indian Youth Congress and NSUI workers gathered outside Akashvani Bhavan to vacate the area, saying that any assembly there was illegal. The official warned that those who failed to comply would be detained. The detained Congress workers were later brought out of the premises by police in a bus. Tensions also escalated outside the ECI headquarters as Congress workers and INDIA bloc supporters attempted to enter Nirvachan Sadan. The attempt to breach the poll body’s gates led to scuffles with security personnel. Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi questioned the Election Commission and police over the decision to prevent Congress and other Opposition representatives from meeting the poll panel’s officials. This is the condition of this country’s democracy in the national capital. We understand that Narendra Modi is scared, and he should be; given the kind of misdeeds they have committed, they should be afraid fear is justified.”
Police detained Congress workers who had entered Akashvani Bhavan, where prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) were in force following the march to the EC office. “More than 300 Opposition MPs marched from Parliament to the Election Commission today to meet the Election Commissioners.
We represent crores of Indians. – Why aren’t the Election Commissioners meeting us? – Why is the police stopping and threatening us?”, he said. Taking aim at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Khera said, “The Leader of the Opposition wants to go there and submit his memorandum, but he is being stopped, and everyone is being stopped very ruthlessly.
