Delhi Police detain TMC leaders for protesting outside ECI, Derek O'Brien says "100 per cent dictatorship"

Delhi Police on Monday detained several Trinamool Congress leaders who were protesting outside the Election Commission of India over their demands, while the ruling Bengal party slammed the Centre and called it a "100 per cent dictatorship".

Delhi Police on Monday detained Trinamool Congress leaders who were protesting outside the Election Commission of India over their demands in the national capital, while the ruling Bengal party slammed the Centre and called it a "100 per cent dictatorship". A 10-member delegation met the Election Commission and submitted a memorandum highlighting that "BJP and NIA have been working hand-in-glove to selectively target and harass our party workers".

TMC urged the poll body to change the chiefs of Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation, Income Tax Department and National Investigation Agency. "Today, our 10-member delegation met with the full bench of @ECISVEEP and submitted a detailed memorandum highlighting how @BJP4Indiaand @NIA_India have been working hand-in-glove to selectively target and harass our party workers. They produced supporting evidence of BJP leader @JitendraAsansol 's backroom meeting with NIA SP Dhan Ram Singh. Additionally, they appealed for embargoes to be lifted so that the State Government can release necessary funds for the storm-affected people of Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar," TMC posted on X.

After being detained, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien said that they are ready to fight the "BJP's dictatorship". "We are here to fight. We will carry on our peaceful protest. This is 100 per cent dictatorship but we are from TMC, we will fight this," he said.

"At 4:30 PM, we met the EC and at 5:45 PM when we were sitting on a peaceful protest. After that, they took us and told us that we were being taken to Mandir Marg PS but they drove us around Delhi for 1 and a half hours. Later, when we protested, we were brought to the Mandir Marg PS," he added. In this regard, a TMC delegation including Abhishek Banerjee met the West Bengal Governor CV Anand Bose.

"Our delegation went to meet the Election Commission today. The way women MPs were dragged and detained is the murder of the republic and the main reason behind this murder is the Election Commission," he said. TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee also said that NIA Director and other officials should be removed by the poll body.

"Why does the Election Commission not remove the NIA Director and NIA SP despite having all the evidence? If West Bengal DG can be changed only on the complaint of BJP leaders, then why are the NIA Director and NIA SP not removed when we are bringing out the facts?" he said. In a post on X, the TMC said, "What we witnessed today was the Murder of Democracy! Led by Abhishek Banerjee, a 12-member delegation will meet the Governor at 9 PM tonight. They will reach the North Gate of Raj Bhavan by 8:55 PM. They will appraise him about the heavy-handed treatment that was meted out to our delegation by Amit Shah's Delhi Police."

Meanwhile, TMC MPs Dola Sena and Derek O'Brien were detained by Delhi Police today. Dola Sen said, "We have appealed to the Election Commission to change the chiefs of NIA, CBI, ED and Income Tax and we are sitting on a 24-hour peaceful protest with this demand.

Earlier, the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, approached the Governor and top state officials on Monday to request the extension of central forces' deployment beyond the Model Code of Conduct period.Citing the need to ensure the safety of citizens and uphold democratic values, he urged officials to extend the deployment by three months to ensure public safety and protect constitutional integrity. (ANI)

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