Vijay Sharma calls Rahul Gandhi's detention 'normal procedure'
Chhattisgarh Deputy CM Vijay Sharma calls the detention of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi a normal procedure and hits back at Opposition allegations.
Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma has dismissed the concerns raised by the Opposition regarding the detention of Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Speaking on Wednesday, Sharma characterized the police action as a standard part of the law enforcement process during public protests.
'Normal procedure' during protests
The controversy erupted following a protest by the INDIA bloc leaders, who attempted to march from Parliament toward the Election Commission headquarters, Nirvachan Sadan, on October 6. The protesters were demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and expressing grievances over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Addressing the detention of high-profile leaders, Sharma told ANI, "These are normal procedures. When protests take place, arrests are made as part of the process. The same procedure has been followed here. This happens with all workers, so what is the big deal if it happened with them?"
Counter-attack on 'treason' remarks
The Deputy Chief Minister also took a sharp swipe at Rahul Gandhi following the Congress leader's recent comments regarding "traitors." Sharma suggested that the Congress leader should turn his scrutiny toward his own party members instead of making broad accusations.
"He should think about himself and his party members," Sharma remarked. "He should think about those who consider him their ideal and those who seek to create anarchy in the country. He should think about Chidambaram... Pawan Khera and many other leaders have spoken in the context of treason. He should think about them."
Slams Opposition over Election Commission allegations
The Deputy CM further criticized the Opposition's pattern of blaming electoral institutions whenever they face defeat. He alleged that the Congress and its allies frequently target the Election Commission, EVMs, and the SIR process to explain their losses.
"I say they should look within themselves," Sharma stated. "Wherever they form a government, they go there, wear new clothes and take an oath. Wherever they lose, there is SIR, there is a problem with EVMs, and the Election Commission is blamed for irregularities." He added that if the Opposition truly believes the system is flawed, they should consider resigning from the governments where they currently hold power.
Details of the protest and detention
The incident unfolded after Opposition MPs were blocked by barricades while attempting to reach Nirvachan Sadan. This led to a sit-in protest at Akashvani Bhavan, located approximately 100 metres from the poll panel's office.
The Delhi Police subsequently detained several key figures, including:
- Rahul Gandhi (Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha)
- Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (Congress MP)
- KC Venugopal (Congress General Secretary)
- Pawan Khera (Congress MP)
- Amrinder Singh Raja Warring (Congress MP)
The detention occurred while the leaders were staging a dharna against the Chief Election Commissioner, marking a significant escalation in the political standoff between the INDIA bloc and the authorities.