The Indian National Congress on Tuesday shared a video of party MP and leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi entering the Akashwani Bhavan amid the march to the Election Commission office.
The video showed visuals of the Congress leader entering the Akashwani Bhawan complex, which is barely 100 metres away from the poll body office, despite the near closure of the gate.
Rahul caught many opposition MPs, including some from his own party, by surprise when he spoke to his sister and dashed towards the reception entrance of Akashwani Bhawan, the headquarters of AIR, PTI news agency reported.
Deep Dive
What was the purpose of the Opposition's march to the Election Commission on Tuesday?
Why did Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders enter Akashwani Bhawan during the protest?
How did the police respond to the Opposition's attempt to march to the Election Commission?
According to the video, three routes to the Election Commission office – from the Sansad Marg, Kundan Lal Sehgal Road and Mahadev Road – had been closed by security officials. However, Rahul entered the Akashvani Bhawan premises, whose back gate opens right in front of the ECI office. Rahul, along with Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi, KC Venugopal and others, entered the Akashwani premises and staged a sit-in protest inside the complex itself.
{{/usCountry}}According to the video, three routes to the Election Commission office – from the Sansad Marg, Kundan Lal Sehgal Road and Mahadev Road – had been closed by security officials. However, Rahul entered the Akashvani Bhawan premises, whose back gate opens right in front of the ECI office. Rahul, along with Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi, KC Venugopal and others, entered the Akashwani premises and staged a sit-in protest inside the complex itself.
{{/usCountry}}‘All I want to do is meet the CEC’: Rahul, Oppn leaders protest inside Akashwani Bhawan
The Congress leaders, after entering the Akashwani Bhawan premises, sat there past sunset, with Rahul telling reporters he was “comfortable” there. “All I want to do is meet the Chief Election Commissioner and tell him that he has done 'vote chori'. I can continue to sit here,” he said, according to PTI.
Following a standoff with the security personnel, the Lok Sabha LoP said, “If they don't want us to sit here, give us some other site.”
Over 300 Opposition MPs had marched from Parliament to meet the Election Commissioners, Rahul said earlier on Tuesday. “We represent crores of Indians. Why aren't the Election Commissioners meeting us? Why is the police stopping and threatening us?” he said in a post on X.
Some MPs, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, TMC's Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O'Brien, and CPI(M) MP John Brittas, were briefly detained during the march and released later.
When the opposition MPs were stopped from proceeding further mid-way through the march, Rahul climbed atop a police barricade and waved the Tricolour. TMC's Abhishek Banerjee and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi also climbed the barricades, even as protesters continued to shout slogans. While the Opposition demanded a meeting with the CEC, Election Commission officials on Tuesday said they had not received a request from any political party for a meeting, PTI reported.