Oppn protest demanding CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation to continue in Delhi after day 2 of detentions
The Opposition hit the streets of the national capital for a second consecutive day on Wednesday to push for chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation as lawmakers protested for more than three hours, bringing central Delhi to a halt and angering the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Opposition – which already announced another stir on Thursday - has also sought time from President Droupadi Murmu to discuss the controversial special intensive revision and Kumar’s removal.
At least 200 lawmakers from the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), packed in three buses, first had lunch in Janpath and then attempted to march to Jantar Mantar but were stopped by a 5,000-strong police force at the intersection of Janpath and Ashoka Road, triggering an impasse. The Samajwadi Party – the second-largest constituent of the bloc – was not a part of the protest.
For more than three hours, the buses carrying opposition leaders were not allowed to proceed, and the busy intersection was barricaded, bringing traffic to a halt on Ashoka Road, Raisina Road and Janpath.
There was also an impromptu sit-in outside the Shangri La hotel at 4pm when the MPs were stopped by police, with Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra lying flat on her back on the street, clutching a copy of the Constitution, with five-six leaders around her. Rahul Gandhi resisted police attempts to put him inside a van for detention. Other INDIA bloc leaders such as Mahua Moitra jostled with security personnel who tried to detain them.
Around 6pm, the Gandhis and many Congress workers were bundled in buses and detained. Further drama ensued minutes later when a bus carrying Rahul Gandhi suffered a punctured tyre on KG Marg. After few minutes, another bus carried the MPs away. Gandhi was taken to the Barakhamba police station and he was released around 8pm.
Delhi police spokesperson said a total 91 INDIA bloc leaders and workers were detained.
“We are not going to stop protesting till Kumar resigns. This is a fight to protect the most sacred thing in this country. There is nothing that Narendra Modi and Amit Shah can do that will stop us,” Gandhi said.
“I already have 45 FIRs; my goal is to reach 100. I want 100 FIRs to be registered against me; for me, every FIR is a medal,” he added.
Police said some personnel, including women, alleged they were manhandled and attacked. Police said they are in the process of reviewing footage from CCTVs, phone cameras and the new body cameras and will soon lodge an FIR.
BJP president Nitin Nabin hit back, saying that “any attempt to create an atmosphere of anarchy in Delhi through anti-social elements will never succeed”. “If infiltrators’ names are being removed through the SIR and the opposition is raising questions about our democracy for this, then the biggest question arises on the opposition’s anti-national intentions and designs,” he said in a post on X.
“The Congress is concerned not with the citizens of the country, but with its vote bank and illegal infiltrators. The countrymen will never allow this attempt to serve the interests of infiltrators at the cost of the rights and interests of India’s citizens to succeed.”
Also Read | Lunch meet, then a Jantar Mantar protest bid: INDIA bloc MPs' bus trip brings Janpath to a halt
The show of strength – which included 13 parties – was part of the Opposition’s plan to mount pressure on Kumar over SIR and other allegations. The developments come after an Indian Express investigation said election commissioners SS Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded written dissents and objections at least 14 times between November 2025 and August 2026 and even written to the cabinet secretary. It also alleged that election officials found their access to the ECI software curtailed by the central IT team. ECI said differing views and observations were a normal part of deliberation and that all its digital platforms operated under strict data security protocols.
On Tuesday, at least 300 INDIA bloc lawmakers marched from Parliament to ECI and later Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra walked into the Akashvani Bhavan campus next door and continued their protest for about eight hours.
On Wednesday, the drama began around 1.30pm, when lawmakers – invited by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge – gathered at Sagar Ratna, a vegetarian South Indian restaurant, for lunch.
Around 3pm, the Opposition declared that they will stage a protest at Jantar Mantar, just 900 metres away from the restaurant.
“All of us in the INDIA alliance will stage a protest at Jantar Mantar today; all key leaders will be present together. We will continue to protest in this manner until our demands are met,” Kharge said.
Rahul Gandhi echoed him. “As I mentioned, approximately 300 MPs—from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha—wanted to meet the election commissioners yesterday; but they did not meet us. Delhi Police stopped us, and yesterday they stated that we could not protest there. So today, we intend to go to the designated protest site — Jantar Mantar — and sit there once again to convey to the nation that, for us, Shri Gyanesh Kumar is not a legitimate election commissioner,” he said. On Tuesday, ECI had said that no political party had sought an appointment till 4pm to meet the authorities, and called the later request “unusual”.
The MPs filed into buses and started moving towards Jantar Mantar around 3.30pm. By then, police and paramilitary personnel had gathered them, and routes to Delhi Police headquarters, ECI, Parliament Street police station and Jantar Mantar were completely blocked.
“This is how they treat MPs who are asking simply to meet the election commissioners. They are beating MPs,” Priyanka Gandhi said.
“Their policemen have scratched me all over. They have thrown us to the ground and now we are not going to leave from here. Let them call their forces back. I will not move from here,” she added.
By 5 pm, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi got out of the bus and sat on the road. Police started detaining Congress members such as Devendra Yadav. After three hours, police dragged Rahul Gandhi inside a police van while Priyanka Gandhi, Deepender Hooda, Supriya Shrinate and Derek O’Brien were taken in another van.
The bus carrying Rahul Gandhi, however, couldn’t go beyond a few kilometres. Youth Congress activists stopped the bus and punctured a tyre near the Kasturba Gandhi Marg and Tolstoy Marg crossing, following which another bus was arranged. Priyanka Gandhi was taken to Barakhamba Road Police Station and released at 8.30pm.
Also Read | Delhi Police Detain Protesters Amid Demonstration Over Alleged Police Misconduct | HT India
BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi said, “What the first family of Congress has done on the streets of Delhi is highly unfortunate and condemnable. One thing has become very clear from this—they do not care about constitutionality. They are solely and exclusively concerned with anarchy.”
The Opposition has now called for protests on Thursday and also sought an appointment with Murmu.
Trinamool Congress’s Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O’Brien, one of the signatories of the Opposition’s letter to the President, told HT, “We have sought a meeting with President Murmu to raise our issues related to SIR and to demand Gyanesh Kumar’s removal.”
The letter also said that the top leaders of the parties in the INDIA bloc and the two Leaders of the Opposition in both Houses want to meet Murmu.
The Opposition has urged Murmu to give an appointment on Thursday or Friday, according to O’Brien.
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