What is the story about?
New Delhi: Amid the ongoing protest march to the Election Commission's office, the Congress took an apparent "Jan Ki Baat" dig at Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's "Mann Ki Baat" radio programme. In a post on X, the grand old party shared a video showing Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress's Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi interacting with people inside the Akashvani Bhawan after they were stopped from marching towards the Election Commission's office. "Friends.. 'Jan Ki Baat' is being broadcast from Akashvani," the Congress said in its X post.
Notably, INDIA Bloc MPs on Tuesday (October 6) hit the streets over their demand for Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. As the Opposition MPs were stopped from marching towards the EC office, Rahul Gandhi and Congress's Priyanka Gandhi Vadra managed to enter the Akashvani Bhawan.
During the protest march, several INDIA Bloc MPs were also detained by the Delhi Police. Even Priyanka Gandhi was detained briefly, but later she was released. After her release, she joined Rahul Gandhi in the protest.
The Opposition MPs, under Rahul Gandhi's leadership, also staged a sit-in protest near the NITI Aayog office as they were not allowed to move further. Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the government was stripping people of their rights and accused the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of acting at its behest during the INDIA bloc march against CEC Gyanesh Kumar.
Other prominent Opposition MPs who joined the protest march include Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule and TMC's Abhishek Banerjee.
In the wake of the protest, the Delhi Police has tightened security in the national capital. A five-layered barricade has been put in place, while body cams have been made mandatory for ACP-rank and above officials.
The protest call was issued after a meeting of 19 opposition parties on September 30. The Election Commission has come under fire from opposition parties over the SIR exercise.
A political row erupted after an Indian Express report alleged that CEC Gyanesh Kumar acted independently, overlooking inputs from Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. According to the report, the two Election Commissioners had flagged concerns regarding the deletion of voters' names from electoral rolls and raised questions about the decision-making process on 14 occasions in recent months. The Election Commission, however, maintained that differences in opinions and observations are a normal part of its deliberations.
