A protest that wouldn’t end: Inside Rahul Gandhi’s daily Akashvani Bhawan siege

It looked like the protests would end around noon on Tuesday (October 6, 2026) as buses full of protesting MPs shuffled away from Akashvani Bhawan in the national capital after nearly two hours of sloganeering.

Only Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had a different idea.

“It cannot end here,” Mr. Gandhi told his colleagues. “Where is Priyanka (Gandhi)? Where is Akhilesh (Yadav)?” he asked. The two leaders were packed into buses by the police.

Many Congress MPs along with Priyanka Gandhi got off the buses they were packed into. But the bus carrying Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, which also had Abhishek Banerjee of Trinamool Congress, John Brittas of CPI(M) and others, had already left the spot.

Mr. Gandhi first suggested that the remaining group march to India Gate and try to walk back to Parliament, away from the barricades, only to be told that all roads were blocked. So he turned back.

Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi, standing on the premises of Akashvani Bhavan, speaks to the media during a march of INDIA Bloc MPs from Parliament to the ECI on Tuesday demanding the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar in New Delhi. Photo credit: AICC via ANI

Squeezed into Akashvani Bhawan

Outside Akashvani Bhawan, he spotted All India Radio staff who had spent two hours standing on the parapet wall, clutching the bars that fenced off the complex, watching the protest unfold. He waved at them and then without any warning waded into the crowd and headed for the narrow pedestrian gate to the compound. He pushed his way into the compound.

Several members of Congress managed to follow suit. The others, including senior leaders KC Venugopal and Pawan Khera, were initially stopped at the gate and stood at grills before the Delhi Police allowed them to join Mr Gandhi after some discussion.

All the while, AIR staff and police personnel craned their necks from the windows and main gates of the building, watching their office turn into a protest site. As the cameras panned inside, the police and senior AIR officials instructed the staff to go inside.

Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi is detained from the protest site at Akashvani Bhavan by Delhi Police during the All India Bloc protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in New Delhi on Tuesday, October 6, 2026. Photo credit: AICC/ANI

Congress staff on site

A large group of Indian Youth Congress (IYC) and National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) activists gathered at Akashvani Bhawan around 2:30 pm. Surprised by the heavily deployed police personnel, the activists rushed to the iron gates, with many managing to run into the campus. The police responded quickly and slammed the door, this time with the activists inside. Buses soon arrived to detain them.

One young activist climbed onto the roof of a police bus and waved the NSUI flag. He stayed there for a few minutes before a Delhi Police officer climbed up behind him, picked up the flag and pulled him down. Buses eventually cleared the activists’ compound.

Meanwhile, Mr. Gandhi and a small group of Congress leaders continued their sit-in under the banyan tree. Long after lunch, Mr. Gandhi’s office brought rolls to satisfy the protesters’ hunger.

By evening, when Mr. Gandhi and the Congress leadership refused to budge, other leaders joined in. Trinamool Congress leaders Derek O’Brien and Mahua Moitra, who were taken away by the police earlier in the day, returned to the site.

The drama continued long after sunset.

Leaders removed at night

At around 8:00 PM, well after office hours, the Delhi Police finally moved in to clear the campus. The officers first removed the leaders gathered around Mr. Gandhi one by one. Finally, Mr. Gandhi himself was dragged to the minibus. He resisted throughout, at one point even trying to wriggle out of the window as Delhi police begged and warned him not to harm himself.

Videos later shared by Congress showed the leaders detained at the Kingsway Camp police station raising slogans.

The protests also saw several aging MPs shed physical restraints. CPI(ML)’s Sudama Prasad, who is suffering from knee problems, walked all the way to Akashvani Bhawan. So are Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan (78), Trinamool’s Saugata Roy (79) and others. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, 84, sat on a chair surrounded by colleagues sitting on the road. He stayed there for over an hour under the hot sun and left only after he felt sick.

Delhi Police detains Rahul Gandhi as he sits at a protest at Akashvani Bhawan. Video: Congressional Media Office https://t.co/3YYctNKU2x

— The Hindu (@the_hindu) October 6, 2026

Published – 06 Oct 2026 22:17 IST