New Delhi: By 2.40 PM Tuesday, supporters began scaling Akashvani Bhawan’s dark blue-coloured gate, as TV cameras affixed themselves to the barbed wire fencing, attempting to catch a glimpse of the two Congress leaders who had entered the premises.
Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, along with party workers and about 300 Opposition MPs, were stopped midway during a march to Nirvachan Sadan on Ashoka Road, which houses the offices of the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Prohibitory orders in place, Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) guarded Akashvani Bhawan from outside, with heavy barricading preventing any unchecked movement on the entire stretch of Sansad Marg leading to Nirvachan Sadan. Many Opposition leaders and political workers were briefly detained and removed from the spot in buses.
The Congress leaders, along with other Opposition MPs, were earlier stopped by the police on Parliament Street near the NITI Aayog office during their march to demand Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.
वोट चोरों के खिलाफ खड़ा है INDIA ✊ pic.twitter.com/76bfLq5OlB
— Congress (@INCIndia) October 6, 2026
After the police prevented the leaders and protesters from proceeding further, they sat down on the road in protest. Soon after, Rahul and TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee climbed atop a police barricade, while Priyanka was briefly detained.
300 MPs gather in central Delhi to meet CEC
Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, addressed the public and said that as many as 300 MPs wanted to meet CEC Gyanesh Kumar and the two Election Commissioners, but they were stopped here by the police.
“We are elected representatives and represent the public. We can’t understand the problem when the Election Commission is merely 50 metres away. Three hundred Opposition MPs want to meet Gyanesh Kumar, but he is scared. What is happening in the country? What is the meaning of democracy if the Election Commission doesn’t meet the elected representatives?” Gandhi said.
आज 300 से ज़्यादा विपक्षी सांसद ज्ञानेश कुमार और चुनाव आयुक्तों से मिलना चाहते थे, लेकिन हमें रोक लिया गया।
हम देश की जनता का प्रतिनिधित्व करते हैं, उनकी आवाज हैं।
हमें चुनाव आयोग के दफ्तर तक जाने नहीं दिया जा रहा है। 300 सांसद ज्ञानेश कुमार से मिलना चाहते हैं, लेकिन वे डरे… pic.twitter.com/LXVNOSn2aj
— Congress (@INCIndia) October 6, 2026
Gandhi asserted, “We are not only countering them (BJP); we will destroy them. I have no interest in what the BJP says. I am standing here to save democracy in India. Along with me, 300 MPs, who also want to save democracy, have come here.”
“Amit Shah, Narendra Modi, Mohan Bhagwat, and Gyanesh Kumar have destroyed democracy in the country. The whole country agrees with this. The youth of the nation understand and agree with it. Even the police personnel agree with it. Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Mohan Bhagwat have hijacked the nation through ‘vote chori’, and Gyanesh Kumar has helped them. Action will be taken against all of them. What has been done to our country is called treason; nobody is going to escape,” Gandhi added.
Anger spills onto streets
In an extension to protests carried out against the CEC, protesters and elected representatives poured onto the streets of central Delhi, demanding Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation and cancellation of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Muhammed Shamshad, a member of Delhi Pradesh Youth Congress told ThePrint that it was the INDIA bloc’s call to have a peaceful protest. The Congress, he said, has been raising the issue of “vote chori” for some time now, and the people of India have now realised this ‘fraud’. “Gyanesh Kumar has helped Narendra Modi to win elections. Our only demand is that legal action be taken against him,” said Shamshad.
Another protester told ThePrint, “The security forces placed barricades and did not allow us to protest. Rahul Gandhi climbed atop a barricade and was later removed. RAF is deployed. We don’t know what their intentions are.”
Jai Prakash, another IYC protester said, “This has never happened in India’s history, that the LoP has been held captive. The country is run by the ruling party and the Opposition.”
Prakash added, “We only demand one thing: If Gyanesh Kumar is not wrong, why is he not meeting the Opposition? If they think they can pass a Bill, suspend MPs, and allow nothing to happen to the ECI, that is wrong.”
Despite being prevented by police, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Deepinder Hooda entered the Akashvani Bhawan premises from the reception gate. They were later seen sitting under a tree.
New Delhi Deputy Commissioner of Police Sachin Sharma also reached the spot with a large contingent of police personnel in a bid to remove the protesting leaders. During the march, opposition MPs were seen carrying cutouts of Gyanesh Kumar and raising slogans, including “BJP hi CEC hai”, “vote chor, gaddi chhod” and “Democracy not for sale”.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: Losing Gyanesh Kumar and winning UP is the best option before Modi-BJP to silence critics