Priyanka Chopra accuses Delhi Police of ’throwing her on the ground and causing her to fall’

New tensions have arisen around the opposition alliance's movement demanding the removal of India's Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. 

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi was detained by Delhi Police on Wednesday (October 7) while taking out a procession towards Jantar Mantar in Delhi. She was later taken to a prison van. During this, she made serious allegations of physical harassment against the police personnel.

Priyanka alleged that the female police officers who came to arrest her forcibly threw her to the ground and slapped her in various parts of her body. In protest against the police barricades, she lay down on the road and remained there.

While talking to reporters, Priyanka expressed her anger and said that she will not move an inch from there. The elected representatives are requesting to meet the Election Commission, but the entire country is seeing the way the government is treating them, she also commented. At the same time, she criticized the police behavior and demanded the immediate removal of the police.

Earlier, opposition alliance leaders held a sit-in protest in front of the Akashvani building in the capital Delhi for nearly nine hours on Tuesday. They continued their protest on Wednesday as a continuation of that program.

After attending the unity lunch hosted by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge in the afternoon, the opposition MPs left for Jantar Mantar. A section of them started their journey by bus. On the way, some Congress leaders climbed on the roof of the bus and raised slogans holding the national flag. Among them were Amarinder Singh Raja Waring, Deepender Singh Hooda, Imran Pratapgarhi, Imran Masood and Seva Dal chief B V Srinivas.

When the procession had advanced about a kilometer, a large number of police personnel were deployed in the Ashoka Road area to stop the movement of the bus. A multi-layered security cordon was set up there. As a result, severe traffic congestion was created in the Windsor Circle area.   

Apart from the Congress, representatives from Trinamool Congress, CPI(M), CPI, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Indian Union Muslim League participated in the programme. However, no Samajwadi Party MP was seen in the procession.

Alleging vote rigging and irregularities in the special voter list revision program, opposition parties have taken a stand against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. They demand that the questions raised about the impartiality of the Election Commission be answered and Gyanesh Kumar be removed from the post.

Opposition leaders have warned that the movement will be expanded if their demands are not met. Meanwhile, tensions are rising in the country's political arena over the confrontation between police and opposition leaders on the streets of Delhi.