Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were briefly detained on Tuesday after police stopped them and other INDIA bloc leaders from marching towards the Election Commission headquarters. They later attempted to enter the Akashvani Bhawan premises to reach the poll panel’s office.
The opposition leaders were demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee and others climbed over a police barricade after security personnel blocked their route.
INDIA bloc MPs, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, had set out from the Parliament House complex towards Nirvachan Sadan. Police stopped them on Parliament Street, near the stretch between the NITI Aayog office and Akashvani Bhawan.
After being prevented from moving ahead, the MPs staged a dharna on the road. They carried cutouts showing Gyanesh Kumar in an RSS uniform and raised slogans such as “BJP hai CEC hai”, “Vote chor, gaddi chhod” and “Democracy not for sale”. In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi wrote, “Gyanesh it's done bro. Time to resign”.
Abhishek Banerjee, Derek O’Brien, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and CPI (M) leader John Brittas were among those who participated in the march. Heavy security and barricades had been deployed around Parliament and the Election Commission headquarters before the protest began. The MPs assembled at Makar Dwar before proceeding towards Nirvachan Sadan.
Before the march, opposition MPs questioned the extensive security arrangements and renewed their demand for Kumar’s resignation. Their objections relate to the Supreme Court’s observations on changes to Form 6, the statutory application used for voter enrolment.
Congress MP Imran Masood alleged that Kumar had weakened public confidence in the Election Commission. He said the institution had traditionally enjoyed the trust of citizens and that one person had damaged that confidence. Masood also alleged that a wider nexus was involved and said the opposition would question Gyanesh Kumar, while BJP chief ministers would have to provide answers.
CPI MP P Sandosh Kumar said the Supreme Court’s observations on Monday had strengthened the opposition’s concerns over the additional declaration attached to Form 6 during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. He referred to the Commission’s September 26 statement, which said the entire Form 6 process had been ratified by the Supreme Court, and alleged that the claim was misleading.
Calling the Chief Election Commissioner a “Cheating Election Commissioner”, P Sandosh Kumar said opposition parties had been protesting the provisions since 2025 and would intensify their campaign.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut questioned the deployment of security forces, saying parliamentarians intended to proceed peacefully. He said MPs were elected representatives and citizens who were unarmed, and asked why such a large force was needed to stop them. Raut claimed that Border Security Force and CISF personnel had been deployed and that security outside ministers’ residences had also been increased.
Raut further accused Kumar of misleading the public about the Supreme Court’s position on Form 6 and said the Chief Election Commissioner had “no moral right” to remain in office.
The Supreme Court said on Monday that it had not approved any modified version of Form 6. The court will examine the Election Commission’s records to determine whether changes were made and who authorised them. The observations came during the hearing of a petition challenging alleged unilateral decisions by Kumar.
In its September 26 statement, the Election Commission had said the declaration attached to Form 6 for the SIR exercise had been upheld by the Supreme Court. It also said that forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, would be used outside the SIR period.
The march took place amid the opposition’s campaign over alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise and reports of differences within the three-member Commission. The poll body has rejected claims of a split and maintained that decisions connected with the SIR were taken unanimously.
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