“Gyanesh, it’s done bro”: Rahul, Priyanka detained as Opposition march to EC is halted

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, along with other Opposition leaders, have reportedly been arrested after their protest march towards the Election Commission office, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over irregularities in the revision of electoral rolls, was stopped, and Rahul Gandhi and TMC’s MP Abhishek Banerjee were seen climbing the police barricade during the march.

The INDIA bloc MPs had begun their march from Parliament’s Makar Dwar towards Nirvachan Sadan, the headquarters of the Election Commission, seeking action over what they described as irregularities in the revision of electoral rolls and demanding Kumar’s resignation.

However, the march was halted near the NITI Aayog office, on the stretch leading towards Akashvani Bhavan and the Election Commission headquarters, where a heavy security deployment had been put in place.

After being prevented from proceeding further, the Opposition MPs sat on the road and continued their protest, while several leaders raised slogans against the Election Commission and carried cut-outs depicting Gyanesh Kumar in an RSS uniform, as slogans including “Vote chor, gaddi chhod” and “Democracy not for sale” were raised.

Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, climbed atop a police barricade along with Banerjee after the march was stopped, while Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and others reportedly managed to evade police personnel and continued towards the Election Commission office for some distance.

The protest march, demanding the removal of CEC Kumar amid continuing controversy over the Election Commission’s handling of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, was led by several prominent INDIA bloc leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Trinamool Congress leaders Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O’Brien, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and CPI(M) leader John Brittas.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut questioned the scale of the heavy security arrangements made around Parliament and the Election Commission headquarters, with security personnel deployed well before the MPs assembled, arguing that the protesting MPs were unarmed and intended to march peacefully.

The Opposition’s latest protest was fuelled by observations made by the Supreme Court on Monday concerning Form 6, the statutory application used for enrolment as a voter, with the court denying that any approval had been given for the modified version of the form while saying it would examine the Election Commission’s records to determine whether changes had been made and who had authorised them.

The development has intensified Opposition criticism of the poll panel, particularly after the Election Commission had stated on September 26 that the additional declaration attached to Form 6 for the SIR exercise had been upheld by the Supreme Court. Opposition leaders have accused the Commission of misleading the public, while the poll body has rejected the allegations.

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi stepped up his attack on Kumar in a post on X, writing, “Gyanesh it’s done bro. Time to resign.”