Rahul calls SIR ‘betrayal’ as INDIA unites against ECI; Deputies detained

“What has been done to my country is treason,” said Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, even as opposition parties marched from Parliament to the Election Commission of India (ECI) headquarters on Tuesday (October 6, 2026) to demand the scrapping of Special Intensive Revisions (SIRs) and the scrapping of the electoral roll. Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Later in the evening, Mr. Gandhi, his sister, Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other MPs were forcibly removed, detained and huddled inside the bus, even as Mr. Gandhi resisted and tried to wriggle out of the vehicle’s window.

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Before Mr Gandhi was detained, he along with Ms Priyanka and Congress leader KC Venugopal staged a sit-in at Akashvani Bhawan – the headquarters of All India Radio, just meters from Nirvachan Sadan, where the protest march was stopped at 11am by the Delhi Police.

At around 6:00 pm, the Congress approached all parties to join the meeting at Akashvani Bhawan. Trinamool’s Derek O’ Brien and Mahua Moitra, IUML’s ET Muhammad Basheer and SP’s Mohibullah Nadvi, who had been removed by the Delhi Police earlier in the day, also returned to join Mr Gandhi.

While the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) stayed away from the protest, all 19 parties that attended the September 30 INDIA bloc meeting were represented. Top opposition leaders including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Trinamool National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, Sanjay Raut of Shiv Sena (UBT) and Supriya Sule of NCP (SP) were seen walking together. Biju Janata Dal joined for the first time, keeping distance from both the ruling party and the INDIA bloc.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has accused the ECI of working for the BJP. “Only BJP members can vote. BJP workers can be Indian citizens,” he said, accusing the government of using multiple measures to “steal the mandate”. Mr. Yadav accused the ECI of particularly targeting “Pichde, Dalit and Alpsankhyak (PDA)”, or backward Dalits and minorities. The acronym PDA is a challenge to his party. Mr Banerjee was seen raising slogans as he stood side by side with Mr Gandhi.

The march started at 10:30 am from Makara Dwara of Parliament, with the leaders carrying a banner reading, “Election Commission is compromised – Sack Gyanesh Kumar”. At Akashvani Bhawan, after being stopped by the police, the leaders sat down and raised slogans against Mr. Kumar and the government. Slogans like “hlaste chor gaddi chodh” (vote stealer leave seat), “Gyanesh Kumar istifa do” (Gyanesh Kumar resign) were raised and leaders were seen carrying placards reading “BJP hi CEC hai” and “Democracy not for sale”.

Mr Gandhi, Mr Banerjee, Samajwadi Party’s Akshay Yadav and very briefly Ms Priyanka climbed the barricades.

Delhi Police barricaded all roads leading to Parliament amid heavy security deployment. Around noon, the Delhi Police started putting the leaders into buses and clearing the place. Mr. Akhilesh and Mr. Banerjee, along with other prominent opposition leaders, Mr. O’Brien and John Brittas, were detained and taken to the Parliament Street police station, where Samajwadi Party workers protested for about an hour.

Sudden movement

At this point, Mr. Gandhi and several other Congress leaders pushed past private security personnel stationed at the gates of Akashvani Bhawan to enter the building. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and Mr Kumar had “destroyed” the country’s democracy. “Narendra Modi stole votes to hijack the country,” he said, adding that all those involved would have to face the punishment of the law.

Activists of the National Students Union of India and Youth Congress briefly stormed through the gates of Akashvani Bhawan and attacked the precincts. Delhi Police sent buses to arrest these activists.

Despite many efforts by senior Delhi Police officials to negotiate the impasse, Mr. Gandhi and other senior officials refused to leave.

Detained MPs were taken to Kingsway Camp Police Station. They were released later at 10:15 p.m. The INDIA bloc will hold another protest on Wednesday.

Published – 06 Oct 2026 17:09 IST