NEW DELHI: Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Kerala leader of opposition Pinarayi Vijayan were detained by Delhi Police on Saturday during protests against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.Banerjee was detained from South Avenue along with Trinamool Congress leaders Derek O’Brien, Dola Sen and other party members, PTI reported. CPM leaders were also detained during the demonstration.Meanwhile, former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was also detained.Following their detention, CPM leaders took to social media to condemn the police action, while party leaders in Kerala denounced the move and called for protests.In a Facebook post shared after being taken into custody, Vijayan accused the NDA government of turning the national capital into an “open prison” and attempting to suppress protests through the deployment of armed police and paramilitary forces.Vijayan alleged that the protest was against attempts, with the support of those in power, to undermine people’s voting rights, which he described as the foundation of democracy.He accused the Centre of attempting to turn India into a “police state” by detaining protesters on their way to demonstrations and arresting people indiscriminately. He said the struggle to protect the Constitution and voting rights would continue.
CPM leaders condemn police action
CPM leader P Rajeev also recorded a video from the police vehicle in which he was being taken after his detention, saying the protest to save democracy in India would continue despite the arrests.“All central leaders of CPM took part in the protest. They have arrested and shifted us in a jail-like vehicle. We are travelling in a vehicle for the past one hour,” he said.Rajeev described the agitation as a landmark protest in the country’s history and urged those who believed in democracy to carry it forward more forcefully.
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Meanwhile, CPM leader P A Muhammad Riyas condemned the police action in a Facebook post, describing it as “undemocratic”.Riyas, the Beypore MLA and Vijayan’s son-in-law, said authorities should not assume that they could suppress protests by arresting party leaders. He maintained that the right to protest was fundamental to democracy and said the party would intensify its struggle to protect democratic rights.Senior CPM leader V Sivankutty shared a social media post carrying the slogan “Hum Leke Rahenge”, while the party’s Kerala unit called for protests against the police action in Delhi.