00:00Live images from outside the Akashwani Bhawan in the national capital on your television screen.
00:06You're looking at leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi.
00:10He's physically now being lifted to be removed from the Akashwani Bhawan.
00:15The same is being done with other Congress leaders and workers.
00:19They refuse to move.
00:21They've been sitting here for the past nine hours and counting,
00:25demanding that they get access to the Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar,
00:31where they want to accuse him of vote-chory in person.
00:37Rahul Gandhi insists democracy is dead.
00:40The vote is dead.
00:42Right now, the images on your television screen,
00:45and as I quickly bring in my colleague Sreya Fomo on this,
00:49Congress leaders, including leader of opposition, Rahul Gandhi,
00:53being physically evicted from the Akashwani Bhawan.
00:58Was 8 o'clock the deadline given to move them?
01:01Because Rahul Gandhi says, just tell me where to move.
01:04I will move wherever you want me to sit and protest.
01:06But my protest will continue, Sreya.
01:13Well, yes, that was the plan for Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
01:17But clearly, the Delhi police has finally acted.
01:20You can see the visuals.
01:22I can show you Priyanka Gandhi.
01:23She's just standing with the bus.
01:26There are women police personnel who have detained her.
01:29They're requesting her to go inside the bus.
01:31We can see B.V. Srinivas.
01:33We can see Pawan Kera.
01:34All of them being detained right now.
01:36The messaging that Rahul Gandhi gave to DCP Sachin Sharma,
01:40who's still here inside,
01:42was that they want to meet the Chief Election Commissioner.
01:45But clearly, there was no request that was sent in from the Congress' side.
01:49So nothing of that sort transpired.
01:51The Delhi police waited it out.
01:53But you can see those visuals,
01:54clear visuals of Priyanka Gandhi standing with women police personnel.
01:59And these are the visuals we are getting to you live from inside Akashwani Bhawan.
02:04That is the bus inside where they are being detained right now.
02:08We are seeing all the protesters being detained and removed.
02:13This is the plan of action.
02:15So two images on your television screen right now.
02:18Image number one,
02:20you see a bus which is now finally moving.
02:23A large number of Congress Party workers and leaders were detained in this bus.
02:29Priyanka Gandhi, Vardra standing outside another bus.
02:33You can see some Congress leaders and workers.
02:36I think you can see Pawan Kheda inside the bus.
02:40Other Congress leaders inside the bus.
02:41The second image is Congress workers who formed a kind of human chain of sorts around Rahul Gandhi,
02:48not letting the police physically lift him,
02:50not letting the police move him.
02:52So they formed a cordon around Rahul Gandhi.
02:55They're all sitting there on a dharna inside the Akashwani Bhawan on Sansad Marg,
03:02on Parliament Street in the National Capital.
03:04They've been sitting there for the past nine hours and counting.
03:08Now, there were a large number of opposition leaders and members of Parliament through the day today.
03:14But towards the end, most of them left Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Vardra,
03:20Pawan Kheda, K.C. Venu Gopal and a number of other,
03:23Charanjit Chinni, Dipinder Huda, all of them, they remained there,
03:27they still are there and now are being removed physically.
03:31Shreya, that's an interesting point you raised,
03:33that they want to meet the election commissioner,
03:36the chief election commissioner,
03:37but no request went from either Rahul Gandhi or the opposition MPs.
03:44Is that what election commission is telling you for a meeting?
03:50Well, absolutely, you know, see, the meeting had to be done as per protocol.
03:54I'll move a little because as Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are being taken out,
04:00Congress protesters outside are also trying to create chaos and resist this detention.
04:06But that is the bus.
04:08That bus that you see is where Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and all the protesters now have been detained.
04:14Now, one thing is for sure that we know there has to be a request that has to be sent
04:20in.
04:20No request was sent in from the state of Congress is why no time was given.
04:25This is from sources inside the election commission.
04:28And as you see right now, this action is happening because Delhi police officials tried to get.
04:34Since the time Rahul Gandhi sat down that dharna, I myself saw DCP New Delhi, Sachin Sharma try to speak
04:41with Priyanka Gandhi,
04:42try to speak with Rahul Gandhi.
04:44But they were given the instruction that without a meeting with the chief election commissioner, he wouldn't move.
04:50So Delhi police waited.
04:51And clearly this is a government building.
04:53It has its office hours operating.
04:56So clearly Delhi police wanted to wait that out and send a message that this is not something they wanted
05:02to do forcefully.
05:03But clearly, because they were not willing to move, is why they had to finally detain them.
05:07As I talk, I'll ask my cameraman to show you that bus where one by one they are now being
05:14seated.
05:15And shortly this bus will be moved.
05:17Most likely they will be taken to Parliament Street.
05:20We are yet to see the kind of action because one thing also, Gaurav, this is a government building that
05:27not just these protesters,
05:28I mean Rahul Gandhi entered or Priyanka Gandhi entered.
05:32We also saw that shortly a gate number three was breached by youth congress protesters.
05:38So there is no likelihood there will be an FIR or a case made of passing, how that proceeds, what
05:46happens.
05:46We'll have to wait for an official confirmation.
05:48But right now, Delhi police waited and now they are in action mode.
05:53All of them have been removed from the banyan tree where they were sitting for at least eight long hours.
05:59Okay, now you see Priyanka Gandhi-Wadra.
06:00Okay, Priyanka Gandhi-Wadra is also inside that bus.
06:03Just moments ago, we saw Derek O'Brien inside this bus.
06:08So now, congress leaders have been put inside this bus, no longer inside Akashwani Bhavan under that banyan tree.
06:15They have now been moved out and one by one, the buses are leaving.
06:21So they waited till eight.
06:22Eight perhaps was the deadline given to Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi-Wadra and other congress leaders.
06:27And now, you see other congress leaders also trying to get into the bus where the top leaders are.
06:34Or they're being pushed in there by the police before they're taken out of this high security area.
06:42So nine hours and counting.
06:45Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi-Wadra, Pawan Khera, KC Vinogopal, Charanjeet Singh, Channi, Dipinder, Huda, Derek O'Brien of the Trinamool
06:53Congress, several other leaders.
06:56Now, Rahul Gandhi has been detained, Priyanka Gandhi-Wadra, they've officially been detained by the Delhi police.
07:04I quickly want to also bring in Preeti Chaudhary, my colleague who was reporting from Ground Zero through the day
07:10today.
07:11Preeti, interesting, they wanted to meet the election commissioner or did they want to create optics around meeting the election
07:19commissioner?
07:19Because EC sources are telling Shreya no request came in from any MP to meet the CEC today.
07:27Well, you know, Gaurav, the fact is the Congress would have us believe that the election commission knew very well
07:33that the opposition parties were coming.
07:36And multiple requests had been sent earlier as well.
07:39But the EC's version is very clear.
07:41No official request has come in.
07:43Away from all of this, this is the second time, Gaurav, that now we will see detention of the Gandhis.
07:48Earlier on, earlier in the day, both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were detained.
07:53They were squatted into buses.
07:55They both left, alighted from the buses and then squatted at Akashwani Bhawan.
08:00What's interesting, Gaurav, is why the Delhi police for so long, for over nine hours, resisted physically evacuating and, you
08:11know, taking away Rahul Gandhi and the other Congress leaders.
08:14Possibly, because if you remember the last time around, the visuals of Rahul Gandhi being dragged, the optics of him
08:20being dragged outside Seven Lok Kalyan Mark, the Congress had completely politically milked those optics.
08:27But, earlier on, what has happened in the last two hours, Gaurav, is that the Congress was sent, you know,
08:35sending out messages to other India Alliance parties to come and join them.
08:39TMC was sent a message.
08:41Derek O'Brien and Mahua Moitro came in and joined the protest.
08:45Samajwadi Party was sent a message.
08:47Akhilesh Yadar was already on his way to Lucknow, gave a, you know, a reaction, said that there is a
08:54protest going on.
08:55We support the protest.
08:56But he couldn't come in, but was ready to send emissaries from his side to join the protest.
09:01So, clearly, there was an indication that the Gandhis, the Congress and the opposition leaders are looking to pull an
09:07all-nighter.
09:09So, they wanted to pull an all-nighter and they wanted others to join in.
09:15Preeti, I'll just come back to you to talk about whether this is becoming Bihar 2.0, where for the
09:21Congress, this was a big issue.
09:23For the RJD, it wasn't that big an issue and we saw election results in Bihar.
09:28We'll talk about Akhilesh Yadav saying, I've already left, I can send someone.
