Rahul, Priyanka Gandhi detained amid Congress protest against inflation

Rahul alleged that some Congress MPs were beaten up by police

Congress MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, were detained just outside Parliament while leaders like Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were picked from near party headquarters as they marched towards Rashtrapati Bhavan and Prime Minister's residence as part of the party's nationwide protest against price rise and unemployment.

Over 200 Congress leaders and workers were detained by police. A Congress leader said 64 MPs were detained by police and taken to Kingsway Camp police station in North Delhi.

The protest echoed inside Parliament too as Congress MPs wearing black rushed to the Well of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha when the Parliament assembled, leading to brief adjournments. Congress had announced 'Chalo Rashtrapati Bhavan' and 'Prime Minister's House gherao' as part of their protest.

Before heading out to Rashtrapati Bhavan, Congress president Sonia Gandhi led a protest inside Parliament House complex with MPs raising slogans against the Narendra Modi government. As MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, marched to Rashtrapati Bhavan, police stopped them at Vijay Chowk, just outside Parliament, and took them into custody. While Sonia did not join the march, Rahul and other MPs were detained.

"Democracy is a memory," Rahul tweeted with pictures he clicked minutes after he and other were detained.

"Our job is to resist these forces, our job is to ensure that democracy in India is protected, our job is to raise the issues of people. We are doing that," Rahul told reporters at Vijay Chowk as he alleged that some of the party MPs were even "beaten up" by police.

Besides Rahul, others who were detained included Mallikarjun Kharge, K C Venugopal, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Manickam Tagore, Gaurav Gogoi, Jothimani, Ramya Haridas, Hibi Eden and Benny Behanan.

Priyanka jumped across police barricades put up near Congress headquarters and squatted on the road, with the police asking her to clear the area as prohibitory orders have been imposed in the area.

In dramatic scenes, she was dragged into a vehicle and taken away. A video also showed Ramya Haridas and S Jothimani, both MPs, were dragged into a bus by police personnel near Vijay Chowk.

In a video shot inside a police vehicle, Priyanka said, "they think that by putting up a show of power, they can silence us and force us into a compromise. Why will we do that? Their ministers cannot see the price rise, so we wanted to walk to the prime minister's house and show him the high inflation, show him the gas cylinder the price of which is sky high." she said.

"There is no inflation for (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi-ji. He has given away the country's wealth to a few people...Only those few people have become very rich, but the common man is suffering. They have a lot of money, they cannot see the price rise. Flour, rice, cooking gas -- everything has become expensive," she added.

Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh tweeted, "Ever since Congress President announced Kanyakumari to Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra almost three months back, Dhamki-jeevi has intensified his toxic politics of vendetta and intimidation against the Congress party and its leadership. It is not a coincidence."