Delhi Police releases India bloc leaders Rahul, Priyanka Gandhi, Sanjay Raut, others detained on way to EC office

All the opposition MPs detained on their way to the Election Commission office on Monday to voice their protest against the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar and alleged 'vote chori' were released after about two hours, police officials said.

More than 30 MPs, including Congress' Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut and TMC's Sagarika Ghose, were detained and taken to the Parliament Street Police Station. The Election Commission had only given permission to 30 MPs to enter its premises but the protesters were in "large numbers", officials said.

Besides, no one had sought permission for the protest march to the Election Commission, they said.


The MPs from various parties took out a protest march from Parliament House to the Election Commission headquarters, about a kilometre away, but were stopped midway by police amid high drama.

Police put up barricades outside PTI Building to prevent the MPs from marching forward. As the MPs were stopped, many sat on the road and raised slogans while some women MPs, including saree-clad TMC's Mahua Moitra and the Congress' Sanjana Jatav and Jothimani, climbed the barricading and raised slogans against the Election Commission.

They had planned to hand over a memorandum on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) issue to the EC.

"The MPs have been informed that only 30 MPs are allowed to go to the Election Commission. We will take them there once we get their names from the EC," a senior police official said.

Security was tightened near the headquarters of the poll body, with barricades at multiple points along the route. Police personnel were deployed to maintain order and prevent any untoward incidents, a senior police officer said.

Additional security vehicles and quick reaction teams have also been stationed near the EC office and surrounding roads to ensure smooth traffic flow and prevent congestion.

The opposition march was against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar, which they allege is aimed at manipulating electoral rolls ahead of polls.

The Congress is also protesting what it claims was large-scale manipulation of voter lists in Bengaluru's Mahadevapura constituency during the 2023 Assembly elections.