Rahul Gandhi questioned why the Election Commissioners would not meet more than 300 Opposition MPs who had marched from Parliament, demanding CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
BY PC Bureau
New Delhi, October 6: An INDIA bloc march from Parliament to the Election Commission of India (ECI) headquarters turned into a running confrontation with police on Tuesday, with Opposition MPs being stopped short of Nirvachan Sadan and later staging a sit-in inside the Akashvani Bhavan premises.
Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, who along with Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, K.C. Venugopal and Pawan Khera entered the Akashvani premises after the march was halted, questioned why the Election Commissioners were unwilling to meet more than 300 Opposition MPs who had come to seek answers over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The protest was organised as part of the Opposition’s campaign against SIR, which it has described as “vote chori”, and came a day after the Supreme Court observed that it had not approved any modification to Form 6, the statutory form used for inclusion of names in electoral rolls.
VIDEO | Opposition’s protest against CEC in Delhi: LoP Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, says, “We are not only countering them, we are going to destroy them. I have no interest in what BJP says. I am standing here to save the democracy of India. A few hours ago, 300 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs came here with me. They too are trying to save democracy in the country. Amit Shah, Narendra Modi, Mohan Bhagwat and Gyanesh Kumar… these people have destroyed the country’s democratic system. The entire country believes this. The youth of the country believe and understand this. Even the policemen who were stopping me here just now were saying the same thing… The country has been hijacked by Narendra Modi through vote theft. Amit Shah has hijacked it. Mohan Bhagwat has hijacked it, and Gyanesh Kumar has helped them. You will see… I am saying this after careful consideration. Action will be taken against all of them. You will see, not a single one of them will escape. Whether it is Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Gyanesh Kumar or Mohan Bhagwat. What has been done to our country, is called treason. Nobody is going to escape.”
#RahulGandhi #CEC #OppositionProtest
(Full video available on PTI Videos – https://t.co/bIyFWTfmBd)
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 6, 2026
READ: No Democracy Like India: Poll Chiefs Get No Comparable Immunity in the World
The MPs assembled at Parliament’s Makar Dwar and set out towards Nirvachan Sadan, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Heavy barricading and security arrangements had been put in place along the route.
The march was stopped on Parliament Street, in front of the NITI Aayog office, on the stretch between NITI Aayog and Akashvani Bhavan. Police prevented the MPs from proceeding further towards the ECI headquarters.
More than 300 Opposition MPs marched from Parliament to the Election Commission today to meet the Election Commissioners.
We represent crores of Indians.
– Why aren’t the Election Commissioners meeting us?
– Why is the police stopping and threatening us? https://t.co/tlIck8WoZX— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 6, 2026
With the route blocked, Rahul Gandhi climbed a police barricade and waved the Tricolour. Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee was also seen climbing onto the barricades as Opposition MPs sat down on the road.
The protesters raised slogans including “BJP hai CEC hai”, “Vote chor, gaddi chhod” and “Democracy not for sale”. Some carried cutouts depicting CEC Gyanesh Kumar in an RSS uniform.
The protest was attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, Abhishek Banerjee, Derek O’Brien and several other Opposition leaders.
Gandhi later posted on X: “Gyanesh it’s done bro. Time to resign.”
VIDEO | Delhi: Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi climbs atop the barricades during the INDIA bloc MPs’ march from Parliament to the ECI, demanding CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.
(Full video available on PTI Videos – https://t.co/d8jp61yd2p) https://t.co/YkwlFV8WCn
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 6, 2026
Police subsequently began detaining Opposition MPs and taking them away in buses. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was taken towards a waiting bus, while Akhilesh Yadav, Derek O’Brien, Abhishek Banerjee and others were also detained following the sit-in on Parliament Street. Water-cannon vehicles and additional security personnel were deployed in the area.
Protest moves inside Akashvani premises
The confrontation took an unexpected turn as the detentions began.
Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra moved past the police cordon and entered the Akashvani Bhavan premises, which are located close to the ECI headquarters. Congress leaders later described the move as an unplanned development.
Other Opposition MPs and supporters also entered the premises, with some climbing the boundary wall and raising slogans. Some accounts said the gates were pushed open.
A few NSUI and Indian Youth Congress workers who entered the premises were detained and taken away in a bus.
Inside the complex, Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Venugopal, Khera and others continued their protest, at one point sitting under a tree and refusing to leave.
Khera said the ECI office was only around 100 metres away and questioned why Gandhi was still being prevented from reaching it.
He also claimed that the protesting MPs represented 64 per cent of the country’s population and said: “64 per cent of the country is out on the roads in the national capital today.”
Deputy Commissioner of Police Sachin Sharma was reported to be at the spot attempting to persuade the protesters to disperse.
‘Why won’t the Election Commissioners meet us?’
At around 2:28 p.m., Gandhi addressed reporters outside Prasar Bharati Bhawan, questioning the Election Commission’s refusal to meet the Opposition MPs.
He said more than 300 Opposition MPs had marched from Parliament to meet the Election Commissioners and represented crores of Indians.
Gandhi questioned why the Commissioners were not meeting them and why police were being used to stop and threaten the MPs.
The sit-in by Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at Akashvani Bhavan was continuing around 2 p.m.
The ECI had not, by early afternoon, announced any meeting with the marching MPs.
The Opposition’s principal demands include the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, withdrawal of the Special Intensive Revision and restoration of names it alleges have been wrongly removed from electoral rolls.
The ECI has defended the SIR exercise as a process aimed at ensuring accurate and legitimate electoral rolls and has rejected allegations that it is being used to disenfranchise genuine voters.
The confrontation on Tuesday nevertheless marked a further escalation in the political battle over SIR, with the Opposition attempting to take its protest directly to the poll panel and the police preventing the march from reaching Nirvachan Sadan.
