Kejriwal, Mamata, Vijayan among leaders detained in Delhi

New Delhi: From former chief ministers Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee and Pinarayi Vijayan to activists Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, Delhi Police on Saturday detained several prominent leaders who tried to reach out to Jantar Mantar despite prohibitory orders to hold a demonstration against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in ongoing electoral rolls revision

New Delhi: From former chief ministers Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee and Pinarayi Vijayan to activists Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, Delhi Police on Saturday detained several prominent leaders who tried to reach out to Jantar Mantar despite prohibitory orders to hold a demonstration against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in ongoing electoral rolls revision.

Kejriwal was detained in Lodhi Estate. (HT)

AAP leaders, including Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bhardwaj, MLA Kuldeep Kumar, and the party’s national media in-charge Anurag Dhanda, were detained near Jantar Mantar with party workers.

“They have unleashed tyranny across the country. The people of the country are very angry,” Kejriwal said, urging people to come stage sit-ins wherever they were stopped. “That place will become your Jantar Mantar,” he added.

In a video message later, Kejriwal said the country’s youth had awakened and were demanding Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. Former Delhi minister Gopal Rai was detained while protesting outside the AAP office.

Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, along with party leaders Derek O’Brien, Dola Sen, Samirul Islam, Pratima Mondal and Saket Gokhale, staged a protest at a bus stop on South Avenue after police stopped them from proceeding towards Jantar Mantar and they were subsequently detained.

In a post on X from Dwarka North police station, where she was taken, Banerjee said she and four of her party’s MPs had begun a dharna at the police station. Alleging that they had been “kidnapped” and “driven around in a prison van for two hours”, she said she would not return to Kolkata and would join the INDIA bloc’s march on Monday in protest against the day’s developments.

The CPI(M) also condemned what it described as “widespread repression against peaceful protesters”. According to the party, its general secretary M A Baby, Keralam chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, veteran leaders Brinda Karat, M V Govindan, Vijayaraghavan, K K Shailaja, P K Sreemathi, Thomas Issac, K N Balagopal, P Rajeev and John Brittas attempted to proceed to Jantar Mantar.

Another group of CPI(M) leaders, including B V Raghavulu, Arun Kumar, Vijoo Krishnan, Mariam Dhawale, A R Sindhu and Lokanadhan, were detained near Minto Road. Veteran leader Manik Sarkar was also among those detained. Police took Karat to Netaji Subhash Place police station, while Vijayan and others went to Chhatrasal Stadium.

Economist Jean Drezze was detained near Jantar Mantar and taken to Adarsh Nagar police station.

Meanwhile, BJP leader and Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta hit out at Opposition leaders over the protest. “Rejected by the citizens of the country, leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal, along with their B-team CJP, want to turn Delhi into an arena. Why are these leaders hell-bent on taking out their frustration of non-stop defeats on the public? What is the fault of the residents of Delhi who are troubled by the chaos on the streets?” she said in a post on X.

She also criticised the protesters, saying, “Who would take responsibility for the hardships faced by office-going employees, daily-wage labourers and patients trying to reach hospital.”