Four former Chief Ministers from the Opposition camp were detained in the Capital on Saturday amid the police crackdown on the protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Former Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and former Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar were detained as they tried to join the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest in the Capital.
The Trinamool Congress chief was detained along with several of her party MPs from South Avenue in central Delhi, where she sat on a protest at a bus stand after being stopped by police.
Banerjee and five of her party MPs, including Derek O’Brien and Dola Sen, were detained and taken away in a police bus. Mamata Banerjee sat with a band-aid on her mouth during the protest.
“The government is misbehaving with us,” Banerjee said in a video statement from inside the police bus.
“We the INDIA alliance will continue to fight to strengthen people’s voice,” she added.
Several other opposition and student leaders were also detained as they tried to join the Jantar Mantar protest.
Arvind Kejriwal, whose residence was surrounded by Delhi Police since morning was also detained as he tried to move out of his house to join the protest.
In a video message after detention, Kejriwal said that youth of the country is not scared of the crackdown. “Youth of India will not be scared. We will fight against vote chori. Everyone should come out and protest,” he said.
Former Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan and CPM MP John Brittas were among those detained by police and taken to the detention centre at Chhatrasal Stadium. Alongwith them, Manik Sarkar was also detained during the protest.
Mamata Banerjee had arrived in Delhi on Friday to join the Opposition protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. She was part of the INDIA bloc delegation that met President Droupadi Murmu on Friday evening to demand Kumar’s sacking.
During the meeting with the President, the Opposition leaders flagged the issue of their “vote chori” claims to demand the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar and repeal of all Assembly polls held in the last two years, with Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi saying he was “shocked” that the President did not deny the ‘election theft’ charge.
Sources later said that claims made by Rahul Gandhi suggesting President Droupadi Murmu accepted assertions of ‘vote theft’ were incorrect.
After the meeting, Gandhi said the opposition leaders would go to the Supreme Court on Monday to meet Chief Justice Surya Kant and hand over a memorandum to him too, as they wanted to avail all options available.
The INDIA alliance has also announced a major protest against the alleged Election Commission irregularities on Monday.
