Rahul Gandhi's visit, crackdown, hunger strike threat: Inside a long night at India Gate during protest by Ankita Bhandari's parents
Here's the latest protest news from across India:
A police crackdown before dawn at India Gate in Delhi on Thursday brought a sit-in protest by the parents of Ankita Bhandari , who was murdered in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal district in September 2022, to an end after they were briefly detained.
Adding to this, Police personnel detain the mother of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari, who was murdered in Uttarakhand in 2022, while protesting near India Gate against Dushyant Kumar Gautam's appointment as Sikkim governor, in New Delhi. (@INCIndia/X) Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi had joined the protest the previous evening, along with several party leaders and workers. The protest opposed the appointment of former Uttarakhand BJP in-charge Dushyant Kumar Gautam as the Governor of Sikkim.
Meanwhile, Notably, the parents have demanded that Gautam’s appointment be put on hold until the ongoing Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged VIP angle in the case is completed.
Notably, After Gandhi left, Congress leaders and workers continued the protest, raising slogans. Police moved in before dawn, briefly detained Ankita’s parents and removed the party workers from the site.
As per the latest buzz, Rahul Gandhi arrived with his sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and other Congress leaders to express support for Ankita’s parents.
In further updates, Gandhi’s visit marked his return to the streets of Delhi, albeit for a different cause. On Monday, he led a large march from the Constitution Club to the Supreme Court to file a fresh petition against chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
On top of that, After a 90-minute meeting with the family, the LoP wrote on X, “For four years, Ankita Bhandari’s family has not received justice, but a ‘VIP’ accused has certainly been rewarded with protection and a constitutional position…I and the Congress Party stand with them - in their grief as well as in this fight for justice”.
Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Khera and Congress leader Supriya Shrinate, along with other party members, also joined the sit-in. The protest was held near the junction of the India Gate roundabout and Kartavya Path.
Source: Hindustan Times