NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Tuesday forcibly removed and detained Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as well as SP chief Akhilesh Yadav from the protest site outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence.
Rahul Gandhi along with other Congress leaders, including the chief ministers of Karnataka and Kerala, started a sit-in protest around 3.30 pm against the police action on protesting students the day earlier.
As police swooped down on the site, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha could be seen lying on the ground and resisting as security personnel tried to pick him up. He was hurt in the process.
After the Delhi Police used force to stop the Cockroach Janata Party’s (CJP) “chalo sansad” march towards Parliament on Monday, the protest showed no signs of losing steam on Tuesday, with the outfit refusing to end its agitation, accusing the Centre of insincerity in talks and alleging police brutality against demonstrators.
The focus shifted from the dramatic street clashes of Monday to the aftermath. Injured protesters discharged from hospitals, got fragmented, heightened security at Jantar Mantar, multiple police FIRs, opposition attacks on the government and a war of words between the Centre and protest leaders while CJP opted to continue protest at Jantar Mantar last night.
The biggest flashpoint emerged over the Centre’s engagement with protesters. CJP leaders rejected Union Health Minister JP Nadda’s assertion that discussions with them had been cordial and constructive, saying the government neither addressed nor accepted any of their three principal demands, including the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET-UG paper leak controversy.
CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka, who was part of the delegation that met Nadda during Monday’s march, described the discussions as “useless” and accused the minister of misrepresenting what transpired.
“JP Nadda told us he would speak to the senior leadership and get back to us, but we have received no response so far,” Ranka said, adding that if the government wished to continue negotiations, its representatives should now come to Jantar Mantar.
The CJP reiterated that the agitation at Jantar Mantar would continue until Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is removed from office, signalling that despite Monday’s crackdown and an inconclusive round of talks, the confrontation between protesters and the government is far from over.
