New Delhi: Breaking free from a police bus mid-detention, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra jumped out to rejoin protesting opposition MPs on Parliament Street, then led a surge toward Akashvani Bhawan in a dramatic escalation of the INDIA bloc’s march to the Election Commission headquarters on Tuesday.
The pair, who had been briefly bundled into a police vehicle after security forces halted the protest near Niti Aayog, refused to be taken away and instead walked back to the dharna site before pushing through to enter the Akashvani Bhawan premises along with Congress MP Deepender Hooda.
Inside, they sat under a tree as police looked on, turning the government building into an impromptu protest ground while heavy security scrambled to contain the situation, as reported by The New Indian Express.
March Halted, Leaders Detained
The opposition MPs had set off from Parliament’s Makar Dwar in the late morning, aiming to reach Nirvachan Sadan to press for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over alleged SIR irregularities and disputed changes to Form 6.
Police stopped the procession on Parliament Street, where the protesters staged a sit-in. Rahul Gandhi and TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee climbed barricades, waving the tricolour and raising slogans like “BJP hai CEC hai”, “Vote chor, gaddi chhod” and “Democracy not for sale”.
As the standoff intensified, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Trinamool leaders Derek O’Brien and Abhishek Banerjee, CPI(M)’s John Brittas and several other INDIA bloc MPs were detained and taken away in police buses.
Area DCP Sachin Sharma arrived with a large force, ordering the protesters to vacate Akashvani Bhawan and attempting to bring a bus inside the compound to remove those seated there.
SC Observations Fuel Protest Push
The march gained urgency after the Supreme Court on Monday said it had not approved any modified version of Form 6 and would examine Election Commission records to determine who authorised changes during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Opposition leaders seized on these remarks to allege unilateral decisions by Kumar and renew calls for his resignation, even as the poll panel denied any internal split and insisted SIR-related decisions were unanimous.
Among the marchers were Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, NCP-SP’s Supriya Sule, TMC’s Mahua Moitra, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and CPI(M)’s John Brittas. There was heavy barricading and security deployment in place around Parliament and the Election Commission well before the MPs began assembling.
During the protest, Rahul Gandhi posted on X: “Gyanesh it’s done bro. Time to resign”, underscoring the opposition’s hardline stance.
