RaGa courts arrest after protest outside CBI headquarters. Political mileage?
What's the story
Congress President Rahul Gandhi courted arrest on Friday after his protest at CBI headquarters. Reports suggest he is being taken to Lodhi Road police station. Earlier, images from the protest showed Gandhi inside the police van, though media couldn't reach him due to the presence of security forces. Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala informed about his arrest. Is this the party's way of milking political mileage over the incident?
Twitter Post
Images from police station surface on social media
Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi inside Lodhi Colony Police Station after being reportedly detained during #CBI protests. pic.twitter.com/l3hDq10Wv4
— ANI (@ANI) October 26, 2018
Protest
Context: Gandhi leads Opposition protest in Delhi
Earlier today, Gandhi led the Opposition protest outside CBI against the Centre's decision to send two top officials of the agency on leave. The Opposition has alleged the BJP at Centre is interfering in agencies' functioning, and criticized the decision to divest CBI Chief Alok Verma. Gandhi was joined by parties like TMC, CPI(M) and AAP in the protest in Delhi.
Twitter Post
Visuals of RaGa being taken to Lodhi Road police station
Visuals: Congress President @RahulGandhi and other leaders of the Congress Party detained during the protests at the CBI Headquarters in Delhi: Congress #CBIVsCBI (ANI) pic.twitter.com/2Fnst3gxsr
— EconomicTimes (@EconomicTimes) October 26, 2018
Twitter Post
Surjewala informs about 'arrest'
Congress President, Sh. Rahul Gandhi other leaders arrested
— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) October 26, 2018
What happened
Man put in cage, presented to RaGa
Adding a bit of sarcasm to the protest, a daily wage laborer, Hari Ram, was put in a cage and presented to Rahul Gandhi. "It symbolizes CBI, which is a 'caged parrot'," the party said. In Delhi, some of the protesters were detained by police. Similar protests were held in Chandigarh, where police sprayed water on protesters.
Twitter Post
Watch: RaGa and others join protest against Centre
#WATCH Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Ashok Gehlot lead the protest march to CBI HQ against the removal of CBI Chief Alok Verma. pic.twitter.com/7FNkhoWQCb
— ANI (@ANI) October 26, 2018
Verdict
Earlier, SC ordered probe to be finished in two weeks
Earlier today, the Supreme Court ordered CVC to wrap up investigation within two weeks. The top court was hearing a petition filed by CBI Director Alok Verma against the forced leave. The probe will be supervised by a sitting Supreme Court judge. CJI Ranjan Gogoi headed bench also ruled that acting chief M Nageswar Rao will not take any policy decisions in the agency.