New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat have “hijacked” the country with the help of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar by carrying out “vote chori”, and asserted that action will be taken against them for committing “treason”.
Nobody is going to escape accountability, Gandhi said during a standoff with police on the Akashvani Bhawan premises after opposition MPs were prevented from marching to the Election Commission office, barely 300 metres away.
“I am not interested in what the BJP says. I am standing here to protect democracy in the country. Along with me, 300 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs had come and they are also trying to protect democracy,” the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha told reporters.
“Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Mohan Bhagwat and CEC Gyanesh Kumar have finished off democracy in the country. The whole country believes this; the youth of the country also believe this. The police people who were stopping me are also saying this. The reality is known to everyone,” Gandhi said.
He alleged that Prime Minister Modi, Shah and Bhagwat have “hijacked” the country through “vote chori”. They were helped by Gyanesh Kumar, Gandhi claimed.
“There will be action against them. None of them will be spared, be it PM Modi, Home Minister Shah, RSS chief Bhagwat or CEC Gyanesh Kumar. What has been done to our country is treason. Nobody is going to escape,” the former Congress chief stressed.
Earlier, in a post on X, Gandhi said more than 300 opposition MPs marched from Parliament to meet the election commissioners.
“We represent crores of Indians. Why aren’t the election commissioners meeting us? Why are the police stopping and threatening us?” he said.
He again interacted with the media as the sit-in at the Akashvani Bhawan stretched into the evening and asserted that MPs will meet the election commissioners.
EC sources, however, said that it has not received any request from any political party for any meeting.
“They will have to meet us… The MPs were disrespected. We have not done anything wrong. We want to go to the election commissioners and ask questions of them and tell them that they have done vote chori,” Gandhi said.
He said the leaders staging the sit-in at the Akashvani Bhawan were “very comfortable”, talking among themselves, having tea and sitting on mattresses.
On claims that they are disrupting traffic and causing inconvenience, Gandhi said the police should then tell them “where can we stage a sit-in, and we will sit there”.
Hitting out at the BJP, the former Congress chief said, “What they have done is treason and we are going to destroy them.”
High drama unfolded at the INDIA bloc march from Parliament Street to the Election Commission headquarters on Tuesday as Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra along with some others entered the Akashvani Bhawan premises in a bid to reach the poll body’s office after they were stopped on Parliament Street during their march to demand the CEC’s resignation.
Several opposition leaders, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Trinamool Congress MPs Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O’Brien, were detained.
The police had put up barricades on Parliament Street and other approach roads to thwart the march.
As detained MPs were being taken away in buses, Rahul Gandhi rushed towards the Akashvani Bhavan complex, where he pushed his way through along with some of his supporters and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
He was accompanied by Congress MPs including K C Venugopal, Deepender Singh Hooda, Charanjit Singh Channi, Pawan Khera, Imran Pratapgarhi and Praniti Shinde.
Gandhi and other leaders stayed inside the complex under a Banyan tree, insisting that they be allowed to meet the ECs.
“We represent the people of the country; we are their voice. But we are not being allowed to go to the Election Commission’s office. I don’t know why. 300 MPs want to meet Gyanesh Kumar, but he is scared,” he said.
“What is happening in the country? If the Election Commission does not meet the MPs who represent the people, then what is the meaning of democracy?”
“These people have stolen votes and hijacked the country. You will see – none of them will be spared; action will be taken against all,” he asserted.
Later, the police forcibly removed Gandhi from the Akashvani Bhawan and detained him briefly.
In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said, “To save the traitors of democracy, the remnants of democracy were dragged around.”
“There will be accountability – not a single traitor will be spared,” he added.
In July, Rahul and Priyanka, accompanied by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, had staged a sit-in outside the prime minister’s Lok Kalyan Marg residence, demanding the resignation of PM Modi over the police action against students protesting on the NEET paper leak issue.
Along with other opposition leaders, the two were briefly detained by police and removed from the protest site.
