Indian Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, along with other Indian opposition members, was detained by police while marching to the Election Commission of India (ECI) headquarters in New Delhi on Monday, in an attempt to protest against a controversial electoral roll in India’s Bihar, the Press Trust of India reported.
In June, the revision of the voter rolls was announced ahead of the upcoming polls in the eastern state. The move, which requires that all potential voters in Bihar provide proof of citizenship by July 25, sparked nationwide fears of disenfranchisement after many voters were given only weeks to prove their citizenship.
Labelling the move “a murder of democracy”, the protesting members of parliament marched from the Parliament to the election regulator’s office, where they were stopped halfway through the march, reported PTI.
As the police attempted to thwart the protest, some MPs climbed up to the barricade — set up by the police ahead of the march — and chanted slogans against the ECI.
The protestors carried placards alleging “vote theft”, PTI said.
According to PTI, the protesting MPs included: T R Baalu (DMK), Sanjay Raut (SS-UBT), Derek O’Brien (TMC), Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, as well as other MPs from opposition parties like the DMK, the RJD, and Left parties.
Opposition leaders in the Indian parliament have repeatedly discussed how the move aims to “disenfranchise” voters in Bihar ahead of the election in September and have called for the rollback of the announcement.
Rahul, in a post on X, said the “Truth of vote theft is now before the country,” after he was detained.
He vowed to continue the “fight to protect democracy.”
As per the PTI report, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had written to the ECI earlier and asked them to hold discussions over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, among other issues.
“Thereafter, the MPs wish to collectively meet with the Commission 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,” the PTI quoted him as saying.
“We look forward to meeting with the Commission, which will be in keeping with the highest tradition of our parliamentary democracy,” he said, according to PTI.
