Rahul Gandhi climbs barricade as Delhi police stop INDIA bloc march against CEC

Opposition MPs from the INDIA bloc marched through central Delhi on Tuesday, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in a protest that ended with police barricades, high-profile detentions, and Rahul Gandhi climbing a police barrier to wave the national flag.

The march to the Election Commission offices quickly turned into a standoff as police and Rapid Action Force personnel blocked the roads around Parliament Street. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, and senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were among those detained and taken away in police buses.

Why the opposition is protesting

The demonstration was organised over allegations that the poll body is working under the direct influence of the Narendra Modi government. Opposition leaders claim that legitimate voters, particularly from minority, Dalit, and Muslim communities, are being systematically wiped from the electoral rolls. They also pointed to recent modifications made to Form 6, which is used for voter registration.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the government of trying to dismantle the democratic rights established at Independence.

"Look, we are fighting against the injustice of the fact that the government is stripping away everything—all the rights of the people," Kharge said during the march, warning that citizens would not remain silent.

High drama at Akashvani Bhavan

As the main route was blocked, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Deepender Singh Hooda, and former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi managed to enter the neighbouring Akashvani Bhavan complex through Gate 3.

When police barred the gates leading to the adjacent Election Commission headquarters, Gandhi and his colleagues sat down under a banyan tree near gate four, staging an impromptu sit-in. Police eventually cordoned off the exit points and urged the MPs to vacate the government building.

It was during the wider street protests that Gandhi climbed atop a police barricade, waving the Tricolour to hundreds of slogan-shouting party workers.

The BJP's response

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party dismissed the entire demonstration as a pre-emptive excuse for future election losses. BJP leaders pointed out that the opposition has no problem accepting election results when they win, and accused them of routinely attacking democratic institutions to shield themselves from political failure.

Though the Congress, Samajwadi Party, and Trinamool Congress turned out in force, some key members of the INDIA alliance, including the Aam Aadmi Party and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, did not join the march.