Several opposition leaders, including former Chief Ministers Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Pinarayi Vijayan and Manik Sarkar, were detained during a protest in various parts of Delhi on Saturday.
On Saturday, several opposition leaders including former Chief Ministers Mamata Banerjee of Trinamool Congress, Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party, Pinarayi Vijayan of Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Manik Sarkar of the former chief minister of Tripura were detained during protests in Delhi. The leaders were demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Kejriwal, who was detained outside his home, shared a video online where he, along with Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and several other members of the Aam Aadmi Party, could be seen inside a police bus. He said, 'The youth of the country has awakened. Prime Minister Modi’s dictatorship will not prevail. Vote thief Gyanesh Kumar will have to go.'
Leaders of Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress faction, including Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien and former legislator Saket Gokhale, were detained outside her home in Delhi. Gokhale announced that Banerjee will sit on a protest outside a police station in Dwarka where the party leaders were taken.
Vijayan and other leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), including MA Baby, Brinda Karat and Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas, were detained earlier in the day and taken to the Chhatrasal Stadium. CPI(M) leader Sarkar, the former chief minister of Tripura, was detained at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Bawana, according to the party.
The protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was not limited to Delhi. The Opposition leaders are among nearly 5,000 protesters who have been detained across the national capital on Saturday, reported The Hindu. The protest at Jantar Mantar had been called by the Cockroach Janta Party political campaign and student groups affiliated to the Left parties.
In recent weeks, protests have been held in several parts of the country calling for Kumar to resign over concerns about the functioning of the Election Commission and its handling of the special intensive revision of electoral rolls.
Source:
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