India’s opposition leader Rahul Gandhi was detained by police on Wednesday as he and other lawmakers marched towards a protest site in New Delhi. It was his third detention in two days. He says the chief election commissioner is “not the legitimate commissioner” and must resign.
Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi was detained for the third time in two days on Wednesday, October 7, during a protest demanding the resignation of the country’s election chief, Al Jazeera reported, citing news agencies.
What Happened
Gandhi and other opposition lawmakers were stopped by police as they marched towards Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site in New Delhi.
A live feed on the YouTube channel of his Congress party showed police putting him into a vehicle and driving away. Several other opposition lawmakers and protesters were also detained.
There was no immediate comment from the police.
The lawmakers had protested the day before as well. Police broke up that gathering and briefly detained them.
What Gandhi Said
Speaking before he was detained, Gandhi said the protesters had turned up unannounced after police stopped their gathering the previous day.
“We will go to the designated protest site, sit there, and tell the country that, for us, Gyanesh Kumar is not the legitimate commissioner,” he told reporters.
“The people who have done this [vote theft] are traitors … Gyanesh Kumar will have to resign.”
The Dispute
Opposition parties, their student wings and the “Cockroach” youth movement are demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
They accuse the Election Commission of benefiting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
- The commission has removed more than 130 million names from voter lists
- Millions of people have appealed against their removal
- About 969 million people were eligible to vote in the 2024 election
Protesters allege that the changes disproportionately removed voters who support opposition parties.
The Other Side
The commission and the government deny the allegations.
They say the revision has no political motive. Its purpose, they say, is to remove duplicate and ineligible entries while making sure eligible voters remain registered.
The BJP has accused the opposition of “deliberately attacking India’s democracy and constitutional institutions”.
Why It Matters
The demonstrations are a new political challenge for Modi midway through his third term.
They come only months after protests led by the same youth movement were followed by the resignation of his education minister.
Image: Rahul Gandhi speaking in 2018 (file photo). Photo by Sidheeq via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
