New Delhi, Oct 6: Security personnel halted a high-profile march by INDIA bloc parliamentarians near the NITI Aayog building on Tuesday as opposition leaders attempted to reach the Election Commission of India headquarters. Following the interception along Parliament Street, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra joined allied lawmakers in a direct sit-in protest on the road, while several Samajwadi Party MPs mounted police barricades to voice their opposition.
The demonstration commenced around 11 AM from Parliament’s Makar Dwar, bringing together senior figures including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Akhilesh Yadav, and D. Raja. Protesters displayed cutouts and raised slogans against the government and the election panel, demanding the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) voter roll exercise.
“Questions were never raised over its impartiality. One person has broken that trust, and an entire nexus is working together,” declared Rahul Gandhi during the demonstration. “We will question Gyanesh Kumar, and the BJP chief ministers will start giving the answers.”
Political leaders asserted that joint public action became necessary due to growing institutional concerns surrounding the electoral process.
“The INDIA bloc had decided to march jointly to the Election Commission because of the demand for the removal or resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner,” stated CPI General Secretary D. Raja.
Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav further alleged that the Election Commission’s functioning has drawn widespread criticism across multiple previous electoral cycles, citing polls from 2017 through 2024. Both the Election Commission and the ruling BJP have rejected all allegations of procedural misconduct, while police maintained enhanced security arrangements across central Delhi to prevent further advances toward Nirvachan Sadan.
