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Police detained multiple opposition lawmakers including Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra during a march by the INDIA bloc to the Election Commission headquarters in New Delhi. The protest targeted Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls that has removed more than 13 crore names nationwide according to data cited in The Indian Express. Lawmakers from Congress the Trinamool Congress Samajwadi Party and other parties sat on the road and staged a sit-in after officers stopped their advance near the NITI Aayog office with some briefly taken into custody before release. Rahul Gandhi climbed police barricades waving the national flag while the group chanted slogans accusing the commissioner of bias toward the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Indian Express investigation published last month revealed that the two other election commissioners had formally objected at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions taken without their knowledge including changes to voter enrollment and database centralization. Opposition parties have seized on the disclosures to renew calls for Kumar’s removal through impeachment motions in Parliament that were earlier rejected by house chairs. The commission has responded that all final decisions on the revision were unanimous and that the exercise was needed to eliminate duplicates deceased voters and ineligible entries from the rolls Reuters reported.
Rahul Gandhi posted on X that “Gyanesh it’s done bro. Time to resign” a message echoed on placards carried by protesters who also displayed images of the commissioner in the uniform of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The march followed an INDIA bloc meeting earlier in the month where participants agreed on demands that included scrapping the revision order and a return to paper ballots for elections according to coverage by The Print. More than 146 MPs had been expected to join the procession as stated by Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien in remarks ahead of the event.
Protests against the revision have spread to several states in recent days with critics arguing that deletions risk disenfranchising legitimate voters particularly in opposition strongholds ahead of upcoming polls. The Supreme Court observed a day before the march that it had never approved a modified version of Form 6 for new voter applications adding fuel to questions about the process The Hindu BusinessLine reported. Kumar who took office in 2024 has faced sustained pressure since the revision began in Bihar the previous year and was later expanded across most of the country.
This latest confrontation presents a fresh political test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration midway through its third term coming months after nationwide demonstrations over examination leaks forced the resignation of a senior education minister as noted by Reuters. Security forces deployed batons tear gas launchers and water cannon vehicles around the protest site while barricades closed key roads in the capital. Participants included Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav Trinamool Congress leaders Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O’Brien as well as representatives from Shiv Sena UBT the Left and Rashtriya Janata Dal.
The Election Commission has rejected claims of partisan manipulation insisting the revision safeguards the integrity of voter lists that underpin the world’s largest democratic exercise. Data from the poll body indicates the deletions represent roughly 13 percent of the electorate across 30 states and union territories according to figures cited in The Indian Express. Opposition leaders have vowed to continue pressing for an independent judicial inquiry into the commission’s functioning and the removal of Kumar to restore public confidence in the electoral process.
