'India is not a democracy anymore': Priyanka Gandhi calls Modi-Shah rule a 'dictatorship'

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of undermining the democratic system in the country and said India remains under a "dictatorship" as thousands of people protesting against the Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar were being detained by the Delhi Police.

The General Secretary of the grand old party said in a post on social media platform X that the current government is breaching the provisions of the Constitution of India and is acting against those people and political leaders who are protesting.

She further said that those who are supporting the government in undermining the democracy in the country are "committing treason".


"All those who are colluding with them to subvert democracy are committing treason against the nation," Gandhi wrote in her post. “India is not a democracy anymore. It is a dictatorship being run by Mr Narendra Modi and Mr Amit Shah," she added.

Priyanka Gandhi alleges violation of constitutional rights

Reacting to the police action, Gandhi claimed that 254 MPs had been "illegally detained", alleging that their basic constitutional rights had been violated. She said protesters from Opposition parties had also faced similar treatment.

"First they rough up 254 MPs and detain them completely illegally, infringing on their basic constitutional rights; they do the same to other protestors from Opposition parties," she wrote in her post.

The Congress MP further alleged that security restrictions had effectively placed Delhi under siege, with barricades, checkpoints and restrictions affecting movement across the capital.

She claimed that train and metro services had been stopped, internet access had been cut, and young protesters exercising their constitutional right to demonstrate had been assaulted or detained.

"If this isn’t proof that they have cheated the elections with the collusion of the Election Commission, and are terrified that the illegitimacy of their government is being exposed and accountability is being demanded, then what is?," she questioned in her post.

Her allegations came amid escalating tensions between Opposition parties and the authorities over the planned demonstration against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Nearly 300 protesters detained as Delhi tightens security

Extensive security measures have been seen in the nation’s capital city on Saturday as the police arrested almost 3000 protesters and prevented them from coming to Jantar Mantar.

In the list of arrests made by police, the leaders of CJP Abhijeet Dipke and the popular YouTuber Dhruv Rathee figure prominently. The action taken by the police has met with fierce criticism from the opposition parties that have termed it as “worse than the Emergency”.

Delhi Police arrested Dipke and two other CJP leaders, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, from the aircraft just after its arrival at the national capital from Mumbai.

Notably, several politicians were also detained, including the Trinamool Congress leader and former Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, former Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar and CPI(M) MP John Brittas.