INDIA bloc MPs, stopped by police for two days, shift protest against CEC and SIR to Raj Ghat

New Delhi: Opposition INDIA bloc MPs, whose attempts to march towards the Election Commission of India's head office and stage a dharna at Jantar Mantar against CEC and SIR were stopped by the police over the last two days citing prohibitory orders, changed their tack on Thursday. After a luncheon meeting at a Connaught Place restaurant, the MPs travelled on buses to Raj Ghat, where they observed a prayer.

After the MPs made known their decision to shift their destination from the high security Central Delhi areas to the Gandhi Samadhi, which was 6 km away, police allowed the leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Mallikarjun Kharge, to go there on buses, with some Congress workers following them on foot. Only the MPs were allowed to enter the prayer area at Rajghat, where they spent about 45 minutes and left, marking a comparatively peaceful day after two days of MP-police standoff.

Also read: INDIA bloc to protest at Rajghat as Kharge hosts 2nd lunch for Opposition MPs


"We have protested peacefully and raised people's issues. All of us went to Gandhiji's memorial site and prayed that the Modi government be blessed with wisdom, so that these people stop vote chori," Kharge said after the event.

The Opposition's Thursday event saw a further dip in the number of MPs present. While Congress camps said they sorted out some misunderstanding that led to the absence of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and his party MPs during Tuesday's march, yet only one SP MP was present at the Thursday event. However, TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, who reached Delhi along with Mamata Banerjee in anticipation of the President meeting the INDIA bloc representatives on Friday, joined the event.

Before leaving for Raj Ghat, Gandhi said, "The truth is that Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Mohan Bhagwat and Gyanesh Kumar have hijacked the country through a criminal conspiracy. They have destroyed the Constitution and stolen votes. They will be brought to justice. This is our guarantee, and you will see it happen."

The Opposition agreed to a Rashtrapati Bhavan suggestion to trim the number of delegates to 10 from 15 in their request to meet the President.