Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
The route from Parliament to the Election Commission headquarters was heavily barricaded. Police and paramilitary personnel were ready. But then came Rahul Gandhi’s ‘dhappa’. Joined by Priyanka Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition led a surprise eight-hour siege of the Akashwani Bhawan as the Congress stepped up its protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged SIR irregularities.
It is for the third time over the past two months that Rahul caught the police and, to some extent, even Congress leaders, off guard by his impromptu sit-ins. In July, the Congress MP led a flash protest outside the Prime Minister’s residence. Last month, we saw Act 2 of his new playbook when he suddenly barged into the Parliament Street Police Station with a student protester who suffered pellet injuries during the July 20 violence and demanded an FIR be lodged.
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THE RAHUL TWIST DURING CEC PROTEST
Such flash street protests have become a new weapon in Rahul’s political arsenal. Act 3 unfolded on Tuesday.
It appeared that Delhi Police had anticipated every move of the Opposition’s protest march to Nirvachan Sadan. As the opposition’s march reached
NITI Aayog office, a few hundred metres from the ECI headquarters, the protesters ran into the police.
Amid the hullabaloo, Rahul gave cameras something to click. He climbed over a police barricade and waved the Tricolour as Congress leaders tried to push forward. However, the police had enough. A familiar script followed as the police started detaining the leaders and bundling them into buses.
Priyanka Gandhi boarded a bus, which was parked near Akashvani Bhavan. Rahul was also about to get in. That’s when the script changed.
According to reports in TOI and Indian Express, as Rahul was about to board the bus, he signalled something to Priyanka. Soon, the Wayanad MP got down, and the Gandhi siblings dashed towards Akashvani Bhavan. Not only the cops, but even Congress leaders were caught off guard by the sudden move.
There were no cops near the Akashvani Bhavan gates. While the security guards tried to stop the Gandhi siblings, leading to a tense stand-off, the duo eventually entered the premises.
While the cops expected that the detentions would end the protest, the unexpected detour stirred a fresh sit-in. Amid the chaos, Rahul told reporters, “What has been done to the country is treason. Be it PM Modi, Amit Shah, or Gyanesh Kumar, none will be spared.”
It is not known why the Gandhi siblings chose to suddenly enter Akashvani Bhavan. It could be that Rahul wanted to use the premises as a shortcut to enter Nirvachan Sadan, which is located near the back gate of Akashvani Bhavan. However, the police quickly closed the back gate, prompting the Congress MPs to stage a hours-long sit-in on Akashvani Bhavan’s premises.
Rahul and Priyanka camped under a tree inside the broadcasting house. Other Congress leaders, including KC Venugopal, Pawan Khera, and Imran Pratapgarhi, also managed to squeeze in through the Akashvani gates as police scrambled forces.
Others were seen climbing the boundary wall and raising slogans demanding the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar.
The Congress wasted no time in claiming the moment. The party shared a video on X of the surprise detour by Rahul with a playful “dhappa” caption.
The drama continued well past sunset. With the Congress leaders refusing to budge without meeting the election commissioners, rolls and energy drinks were brought in. It created another controversy. You can read about it here.
Around 8 pm, the police finally moved to clear the Akashvani Bhavan premises. Visuals showed Rahul being dragged from the premises towards a bus. The leaders were detained at the Kingsway Camp police station before being released at 10 pm.
FLASH PROTESTS: RAHUL’S NEW PLAYBOOK
This was not the first time that Rahul outmanoeuvred the authorities.
On July 21, a day after the police crackdown on protesting students who were marching to Parliament, Rahul and a group of Congress MPs unexpectedly turned up near PM Modi’s residence and began an impromptu sit-in.
Even the Congress MPs were kept in the dark before the flash protest. They were initially told to gather at Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence to celebrate the Congress president’s birthday.
As the leaders gathered, they were apprised of the plan and started to march towards 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, which is just 2 km away. The sudden move caught the police off guard.
The sit-in ended only after Rahul was removed by the police, suffering a bloody nose in the process.
Act 2 unfolded a month later, on August 21. It was business as usual at the Parliament Street Police Station when Rahul stormed in with Sahil Lochab, a 19-year-old student who allegedly suffered pellet-gun injuries during the July 20 protest. He demanded that an FIR be immediately lodged in the case.
As the cops dilly-dallied, Rahul refused to budge and staged a sit-in outside the police station. Soon, Priyanka Gandhi, other Congress leaders, and opposition bigwigs joined him. Security was strengthened outside the police station as a familiar drama played out.
Rahul made it clear that he would not leave without an FIR being registered, regardless of how many hours it took. The stand-off ended after seven hours as Delhi Police eventually registered an FIR over the pellet firing.
The developments suggest a major shift in Rahul’s approach in tackling pressing issues against the government. He is no longer speaking about an issue just on social media, but making his presence felt on the ground through such flash protests.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
