Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai
Mumbai, Oct 11: Activist Tushar Gandhi, great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, was detained by Mumbai Police along with several other activists and opposition leaders ahead of a planned protest demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. He was released after eight hours in detention.
The protest was scheduled to take place at the historic August Kranti Maidan on Saturday. However, Mumbai Police deployed personnel across the city and detained several protesters and youth leaders, including Abhijit and Saurabh, ahead of the demonstration.
Tushar Gandhi was detained in the Bandra area between 9.30 am and 10 am and initially taken to the D N Nagar Police Station. Confusion arose when opposition leaders arrived at the station to seek his release but were informed that he had been shifted elsewhere.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders, including MLA Aaditya Thackeray, MP Sanjay Raut and MLC Anil Parab, reached the police station as protesters gathered outside and raised slogans such as “Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod”.
Police later confirmed that Tushar Gandhi had been shifted to Borivali Police Station. Officials arranged a telephone conversation between Aaditya Thackeray and Gandhi to ease tensions. After eight hours in detention, Gandhi was released, and Borivali police dropped him at his residence.
Aaditya Thackeray criticised the government over the detentions, accusing it of suppressing young people and peaceful dissent.
“An emergency has been unofficially imposed. Why are they so afraid of the youth generation?” he asked, adding that Tushar Gandhi had been preparing for a peaceful protest when he was detained.
Thackeray also announced that opposition alliance members would visit any location where their colleagues were detained, warning that they would not remain silent if action was taken against their workers.
Meanwhile, protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar also took place in Solapur. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) organised a torch rally from the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar statue to the Zilla Parishad, with participants demanding Kumar’s resignation.
CPI(M) leaders criticised the police action against protesters in Delhi and the detention of CJP leaders, describing the developments as an undeclared emergency. They called for demonstrations across the country wherever police attempted to prevent protests.
CPI(M) leader M A Shaikh also warned that if the government continued to support Kumar, the party would demand the resignations of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah as well.
The detentions and protests have intensified the political confrontation over demands for the Chief Election Commissioner’s resignation, with opposition parties accusing the authorities of curbing dissent and the police maintaining security amid demonstrations.