Opposition's anti-SIR-CEC march turns into INDIA bloc-government face-off

NEW DELHI: The opposition's protest march to Election Commission headquarters on the SIR-CEC issue Tuesday turned into a high-octane confrontation between Modi govt and INDIA bloc, leading to an eight-hour dharna by Rahul Gandhi and his colleagues at Akashvani Bhavan and ending with their detention in late-evening police action.Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other Congress MPs and functionaries forced their way onto the Akashvani premises, after the march by a large contingent of INDIA bloc-BJD MPs was stopped midway by police. The MPs, including Mallikarjun Kharge, Akhilesh Yadav, Sanjay Raut, Supriya Sule and Abhishek Banerjee, started from Parliament for the EC office amid slogans targeting PM Narendra Modi, CEC Gyanesh Kumar and BJP. But the group was stopped just metres away by heavy police deployment and barricades.The marchers, aided by Congress and SP workers, sat on a dharna on the road outside Akashvani Bhavan.