- 23 minutes ago
Tensions escalated outside a restaurant in Connaught Place, New Delhi, as opposition parties convened for a lunch meeting hosted by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. Workers from the Indian Youth Congress and National Students' Union of India staged protests, raising slogans against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of electoral malpractice. The gathering witnessed scuffles following confrontations between party supporters. Police and Rapid Action Force personnel barricaded surrounding routes and deployed personnel with body cameras to preempt unauthorised marches towards Jantar Mantar or Rajghat. Opposition members of Parliament, including Manickam Tagore and Imran Pratapgarhi, maintained that plans for subsequent demonstrations would be finalised during the meeting, reiterating demands for the removal of the Chief Election Commissioner.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00A very good afternoon to all our viewers. You're watching our special coverage on the opposition's lunch meet to discuss
00:06their strategy against the Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar.
00:10Another day, another lunch meeting. I'm Anjali Pandey, currently at Karnot Place, just outside the lunch venue, which is Mohit.
00:18So it seems like after the South Indian lunch that the opposition leaders had yesterday at Sagar Ratna, which is
00:25just adjacent to Mohit's, today they're in mood to have a North Indian lunch menu.
00:30And so Mohit's has been decided as the venue. Malik Arjun Kharge will again be hosting the opposition leaders.
00:37All the Rajasabha and Lok Sabha opposition MPs have been invited for the lunch at 1.45pm today.
00:44We're just minutes away from that. But action has already started here outside Mohit's.
00:52We can see NSUI workers, youth congress workers already staging protests already.
00:58The sloganeering has already started. They are raising slogans against the Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, Vote Chor, Gaddi Chor.
01:06Other slogans which we've been hearing since last three days. Remember, this is the third day of the protest.
01:12Yes. Now, yesterday we saw what happened is that there was a lunch invite that was given to the opposition
01:18MPs first.
01:19All the opposition MPs had gathered at Sagar Ratna where they had their lunch.
01:23And shortly after the lunch, we saw Rahul Gandhi announcing that the MPs will be moving towards Jantar Mantar.
01:30They boarded the buses. There were three buses that were already parked.
01:33And then the MPs boarded the buses.
01:36The cops tried to stop the buses from moving to Jantar Mantar.
01:40There was heavy barricading that was in place after which the opposition MPs got down off the bus.
01:46And that is when the real drama took place.
01:49That is when the opposition MPs started staging protests.
01:52There was a confrontation between Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Wadra and the cops.
01:56And eventually we saw detention.
01:59That was the second detention of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Wadra in two days.
02:03And it remains to be seen if similar things will be happening even today.
02:07If there will be after lunch as dessert, there will be protests which will be served or not.
02:13That remains to be seen.
02:14But given the atmosphere that we are witnessing here currently, there is a high possibility that there could be another
02:21protest today.
02:22Because the NSUI, the Congress Save Adal workers, the Indian Youth Congress workers are already here.
02:28They have already gathered over here.
02:31My colleague Moshumi Singh and Aishwarya Paliwala are also joining us now.
02:36Moshumi, it seems like we are all gearing up for another round of protests by the opposition.
02:43We saw what happened yesterday.
02:45First the lunch in white, the opposition MPs had the lunch and then suddenly it was time for flash protests.
02:52So it seems like perle pet puja, fir kaam duja seems to be the strategy that the opposition MPs seem
02:58to be following now.
03:03So the pet puja is a part of the entire strategy and tactic.
03:08We are on the other side where you are, Anjali.
03:11And these are the buses.
03:13Remember yesterday we had spoken about these buses.
03:17Not gotten by the police but the party, Congress party itself to in fact ferry the MPs outside, out from
03:27this place.
03:27So there is an action plan in place, surely.
03:31And you can be more vocal about it perhaps, Imran Saab.
03:36Now we are on the other side.
03:38So we are on the other side.
04:10So we are on the other side.
04:28I don't know.
04:54We are going to go to the last time.
04:57We were going to go to the last time.
04:58We were going to go to the last time.
05:00So, what do we mean?
05:02That is the location we are going to do?
05:03Who are going to do?
05:05Nobody knows.
05:07We are going to do it again.
05:08This is a new place.
05:11This is a new way.
05:12These ideas are the ideas.
05:15Rahul Gandhi Ji has gone to the past,
05:16it's a long way.
05:18They have gone to the past.
05:18They have gone to the past.
05:46two ways to get it done impeachment you don't have the numbers
05:50you approach the court that is a legal process that you possibly are
05:54exploring so why also take the national capital because a lot of BJP
06:00objections are that you are taking national capital for hostage there are
06:03anarchist element in the protest the police is being attacked all of these
06:06allegations have been made out and you must have heard it already BJP is
06:10clueless BJP is unable to understand what is the issue itself the issue is
06:15that we want BJP leaders involved in become expert in vote showery has been
06:20caught red-handed and the person who helped them that vote showery is
06:25janitor kumar they are trying to protect that person who is involved in a vote
06:29showery we are demanding for his resignation who has been caught red
06:33red-handed has been we are asking for his removal and the government is not going
06:37to do it if they are not going to do it we are going to protest peacefully we will
06:42as leader of opposition Rahul Gandhiji has clearly stated we will fight till
06:47Gyaneshwar Kumar Gupta resigns yesterday we saw several of your allies were missing
06:53from the meeting today what is the change in this strategy all all party leaders
06:57has been informed whenever the morning where we are going to meet it whomever is
07:01able to many leaders would have been gone to constituencies many leaders would
07:04have had some other issues but our focus is not this kind of smaller absence but we
07:11are very focused that the issue is very important all other parties will be there
07:17every but party has been invited everybody will come for this meeting and this
07:21luncheon meeting then maybe what what we have to discuss with this a dealer leaders
07:24will decide then we will do whatever it has been decided in the meeting I can
07:29see the buses lined up here three buses so are you headed towards Rajgharth or
07:33there will be a battle march of sorts walking towards gentleman no we are very
07:38clear in the meeting it will be decided here the buses are there yesterday also
07:42buses are because we don't want to our hundred MPs moving in hundred cars will
07:46create a lot of anarchy traffic jams therefore only we are asking every MP to
07:51drop their cars and go back to their houses and automatically we can go in a bus
07:55without creating any kind of inconvenience to the public we don't know
08:00after the meeting is decided I will inform you outside you can see KC Venu Gopal has come out and
08:09possibly that means that the leaders from the India block will now start entering
08:16more it's a restaurant where entire corridor has been created by the Delhi police for entrance of these
08:22leaders with video journalist Manish Vidhudi this is Amit Bhardwaj reporting for India today from Delhi
08:30right so that was Congress MP Manikam Tagore talking about the strategy of the opposition though he did
08:36not reveal what's the plan for today where will the march be heading towards but one thing seems
08:42likely that there is going to be a protest by the opposition MPs even today because the the youth
08:50congress workers the congress workers the NSUI workers are all geared up they've already started
08:55chanting slogans the leaders are yet to arrive some of them have arrived we showed you what the leaders
09:00had to say and the police also seems to be better prepared today because they they know that in all
09:07likelihood there is going to be a march even today yesterday it was a surprise but today the cops are
09:13also geared up we can see heavy police deployment over here there are buses that are parked my colleague
09:18Aishwarya Paliwal is also with us Aishwarya today the cops seem to be better prepared as they know that
09:25in all likelihood there is going to be a march there is going to be protest that will be taking
09:30place today
09:35well definitely you know let me just show you where we are standing barely you know 10 meters away from
09:41moits that's the place where we will see the lunch diplomacy taking place today in fact some of the leaders
09:46kc venu gopal someone who has been organizing this is in fact uh standing outside has come outside
09:54the restaurant he's waiting for the other leaders to come in so he in fact is someone who will make
10:00sure that the congress leadership enters moit and then we will see the lunch diplomacy take place you
10:05know let me tell you the raf you know the rapid action force uh in large numbers the women personnel
10:11also present on the spot and all of them are now making way making sure uh that you know they
10:16barricade the entire road also making sure that just in case the leaders want to step out and then
10:22they start doing a protest everything is within is cordoned off that is something uh that we are seeing
10:28all of them do uh you will be able to see the delhi police personnel and the raf all of
10:33them now moving
10:33out making sure uh that you know there is in fact a corridor of sorts which is being uh made
10:39so that's
10:40the situation at the moment uh the bhai tishanta party also keeping a hawk's eye on what the opposition
10:45is doing interesting will be the people who will be coming anjali and more interesting will be the
10:50ones who will be missing from this lunch absolutely ashwarya do stay with us so uh we are just six
11:00minutes
11:01away from 145 145 is the time that has been given to the mps to assemble at moets where the
11:07opposition
11:07mps will be having lunch remember yesterday it was saga ratna which is just interested to moets uh we
11:13are standing outside the two uh restaurants today the opposition mps will be having lunch at moets and
11:20after which the strategy will be decided uh there is still no clarity uh where the opposition mps will
11:26be moving towards uh will it be janatar mantra once again will it be the election commission's
11:31office because on tuesday we saw it was the election commission's office but what what came as a
11:35surprise element is when rahul gandhi forcibly entered the akashwani bhavan yesterday we saw it
11:42was a surprise protest flash protests happened the uh the opposition mp started moving in buses towards
11:47chantar mantra today it remains to be seen what is the location that they decide over lunch my colleague
11:52amit bhadwaj is also with us amit you spoke with manikam tagor and he was not ready to disclose the
11:58location he said that uh the mps will be deciding where to go uh over the lunch will it be
12:04once again
12:05janatar mantra because janatar mantra is a nearby or will it be the election commission's office or will
12:10it be uh any surprise when you now uh well the location that we are standing at it is a
12:20very strategic
12:21location because uh you know the buses which are lined up three buses are lined up for the mps uh
12:27once
12:27they step out of the moits after the lunch meeting uh they are uh positioned in a direction from where
12:34they can actually take the minto road route for raj ghat so is raj ghat the destination that is a
12:41question
12:42or will these mps you know again put up a surprise for the delhi police personnel who are deployed here
12:48in big numbers the raf personnel deployed here in big numbers uh to ensure that uh the mps do not
12:55move towards janatar mantra now janatar mantra is not far off from here you can actually walk down to
13:00janatar mantra yes that would mean that uh you know a walk of nearly four kilometers at least so to
13:05say
13:06but uh through the inner circles of cannot place you can cross uh towards janpat and from janpat you can
13:13enter janatar mantra that place is not far off uh but if that movement happens uh we are to believe
13:18that the delhi police will stop the movement of the mps like yesterday there were several attempts
13:24made to move towards janatar mantra but none of them were successful and eventually the leaders
13:28from india block war are detained including leader of opposition in lok sabha rahul gandhi and leader of
13:35opposition in rajasabha uh you know uh so a lot of commotion will be here in some time from now
13:41we will see that rahul gandhi mr malikarjan karge abhishek banerji of the aitc all of these leaders will
13:48be coming here so will that mean that a raj ghat kind of a route can be done where they
13:55can make a
13:56symbolic message sent to people across the country that the allegations that they have been making
14:01about port chori or against us uh you know chief election commissioner mr gyanesh kumar uh so will
14:07that be a symbolic protest today at raj ghat that is to be seen or whether rahul gandhi and his
14:13uh
14:14team of opposition leaders from india blog will decide to pull off another uh surprise for delhi
14:20police and a challenge for delhi police and will uh that trigger another round of detention but one
14:26thing is pretty sure as we have to stay with us we are getting some news updates we are getting
14:31some
14:31breaking news we're learning that there has been a clash between the bjp and the congress workers just
14:37outside the venue which is more its restaurant we're learning that there has been a clash between
14:42the between the bjp and congress workers a muslim bjp supporter was beaten up by the congress workers
14:48for raising pro bjp slogans over here at could not place at the outer circle just outside the venue
14:54remember uh the opposition mps are yet to reach some of them have already arrived but some uh the main
15:00leaders are yet to arrive but before that there has been a clash between the bjp workers and the uh
15:05congress workers were learning that there was a bjp worker who was raising some pro bjp slogans who has
15:11now been beaten up by the congress workers my colleague amit bhadwaj continues to stay with us
15:16amit what more details are we getting on this
15:23police certainly is in active mode once i'll ask manish to show the visuals that is coming from
15:30uh the location where uh all of us are standing you know and we're getting trying to get a frame
15:36by frame picture of the developments here but uh there are reports of confrontation we'll have to
15:42see as to what delhi police has to say and delhi police is uh better equipped certainly uh today we
15:48can say that because if you look at uh uh you know the installations on delhi police's uh uniform as
15:54well many of them have body cameras on so that has been done in order to uh you know spot
15:59any
16:01activity in the crowd if that happens untoward activity if that uh unfolds in the crowd and but
16:07we can certainly show to our viewers that nsui workers are here standing uh raising slogans in support
16:14of rahul gandhi and against uh cc ganesh kumar and against bhartya janta party obviously so there's a
16:20possibility of if bjp workers come here there's a obviously in in situation of that sort there is
16:25always possibility of uh confrontation between the workers of the political parties and that is why
16:30uh we are to assume that the police and raf seems to be in really uh alert mode right now
16:36and the
16:37movement of the police forces is uh the raf personnel is also happening uh so this is a major uh
16:43you know
16:43alert mode kind of situation that we can see uh yes we are given to understand that there was a
16:49uh uh muslim bjp supporter who was raising pro bjp slogans because of which uh this confrontation
16:56possibly unfolded uh but uh right now uh the delhi police all right amit all right thank you for
17:03those uh details do stay with us let's take a look at some political reactions
17:06uh
17:07defense when something goes on, there is no offense, so the offense and the F.I.R.
17:14which is made by the bad news, this is what we do, this is what we condemn.
17:20What do you mean by the government?
17:23I don't know about the television. The government has the greatest personality in the country.
17:32If the opposition goes on, it's a good thing.
17:35Do you have any knowledge of this?
17:38I have no knowledge of this.
17:40I have come to Niyota and left my cases in the Supreme Court.
17:54So we are getting you all the updates right from the ground, right from Mohit, which is the lunch venue.
18:00But what seems to be different today as compared to yesterday is that yesterday there was no action before the
18:07lunch meeting happened.
18:08The workers were not there.
18:09Some workers had gathered, but there was no action or no drama that was taking place.
18:13But today, as we can see, there's already drama that's taking place.
18:17There's already chaos that's unfolding over here.
18:19There are protests.
18:20There's sloganeering that's happening by the youth congress workers.
18:23If you could show you around how there's also movement of the cops, the RAF.
18:30And it seems like the leaders are now arriving.
18:35And there's heavy sloganeering by the NSCI workers, the youth congress workers.
18:40We also learned about a clash between the congress and the BJP workers.
18:44There were some BJP workers who were raising pro-BJP slogans,
18:48who were allegedly beaten up by the youth congress and the NSCI workers who are now staging protests.
18:53So they have already started staging protests today.
18:57That was not the case yesterday.
18:58So in all likelihood, as soon as the lunch wraps up, as soon as the opposition MPs are done with
19:04the lunch,
19:05they will be marching towards.
19:06We still don't have any clarity where they will be marching towards.
19:10What we're learning that it could be Rajgat also.
19:13It could be Jantar Mantar also.
19:15But there's no confirmation that we've got from any of the MPs.
19:19The MPs still want to keep it a secret.
19:22They are saying that they will be deciding where they will be marching towards
19:25while they're having lunch.
19:28But Rajgat seems to be one of the options.
19:31They could once again board the buses and move towards Jantar Mantar also.
19:34Remember, viewers, the same buses, the same three buses can be seen even today.
19:40They are already parked.
19:41So the opposition MPs will today also be boarding these buses like yesterday
19:46and after which there's heavy COP deployment also.
19:48So the cops are absolutely ready.
19:51Today, they know that there is going to be a protest.
19:54There is going to be a march.
19:56So the cops are already deployed.
19:58There's heavy RAF deployment.
19:59CAPF have also been deployed.
20:01And the numbers are only increasing with each passing minute.
20:05We're seeing the police deployment is only increasing.
20:09There's heavy barricading and the crowd is also surging.
20:12More and more Congress workers, youth Congress workers are now reaching the location.
20:17They have already started staging protests.
20:20What remains to be seen, when do the top leaders arrive?
20:23Because so far, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Wadra, Malik Arjun Kharki, they have not arrived.
20:28Although other MPs, including Manikam Tagaur, Imran, Patapkadi, they have arrived.
20:32We'll be...
20:34There are...
20:35Lunchs, when you launch...
20:36Ya launch
20:37Kaze like here
20:38Here's something like it launched?
20:40How much's about it?
20:41It lets see...
20:43I hope, um11y!
20:45And the war scheme is.....