Several Congress MPs including Rahul Gandhi and Shashi Tharoor detained by police during a protest against the Central government on price rise and unemployment.
The move comes in order to prevent them from staging a protest opposite the Raj Bhavan as part of the party's nationwide stir against the Centre over price rise, the GST hike on essential items and unemployment.
State Congress president Nana Patole and former ministers Balasaheb Thorat, Varsha Gaikwad, Naseem Khan, Chandrakant Handore, Gaurav Gagoi, K. C. Venugopal were among some of the leaders who were detained. Videos of the leaders being detained were circulated on social media.
The Congress leaders said they had planned to carry out a protest march to the Raj Bhavan, the official residence of the governor in south Mumbai, to protest against the Centre's policies.
As per the plan announced on Thursday, the march was to begin from Hanging Garden and culminate at the Raj Bhavan around 11 am.
A heavy deployment of police was put in place outside the Vidhan Bhavan, the state legislature complex, where Congress leaders held a meeting. However, the police personnel prevented them from proceeding to the Raj Bhavan, located a few kilometres away.
Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat told the police that it was their right to stage an agitation over the issues concerning people, including rising inflation.
"Even in the British rule, peaceful protests were allowed. But under the 'ED' government, even this is not possible," Thorat told them in an apparent reference to Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government in the state.
