INDIA bloc march halted near EC, but off-script sit-in by Rahul, Priyanka keeps protest alive

•  Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra breach security cordon to enter the Akashvani building and stage a high-voltage sit-in under a tree!

• Opposition leaders launch their fiercest attack yet on the Modi government, declaring, "What has been done to the country amounts to treason!"

• Rahul Gandhi targets the Election Commission and the government. Says, "They have hijacked the entire nation by stealing votes!"

• Opposition's march was halted just 50 yards away; Rahul Gandhi remarked, "If elected representatives cannot meet, what is the meaning of democracy?

The INDIA bloc’s march on Tuesday, 6 October, from Parliament Street to to the Election Commission was forcibly stopped by the Delhi Police barely a few hundred metres before it reached the headquarters.

But the Opposition appeared to turn the setback into a larger political message, with the march showcasing INDIA bloc unity over allegations of electoral irregularities and its demand for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.

In an unusual display of unity and coordination, MPs from several INDIA bloc parties, led by the Congress, marched from Parliament towards the Election Commission, .

Among those who participated were Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, TMC's Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O'Brien and leaders of other Opposition parties.

The march was stopped near the NITI Aayog-Akashvani Bhavan stretch on Parliament Street as heavy security and barricades prevented the protesters from proceeding towards Nirvachan Sadan. Several Opposition MPs, including Akhilesh Yadav and TMC leaders, were subsequently detained and taken away in buses.

But the protest took an unexpected turn when Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra entered the Akashvani Bhavan premises and sat on a dharna. The move was not part of the original plan and initially caught both police personnel and even some Congress leaders off guard. Congress leaders K.C. Venugopal and Pawan Khera, among others, joined the protest outside the premises.

The Gandhis' sit-in effectively extended the protest after most of the Opposition MPs had been detained. Rahul Gandhi also addressed the media from inside the premises, questioning why the Election Commission was not meeting the Opposition MPs.

“Why is the EC not meeting us?” Gandhi asked, arguing that the 300 MPs represented the people. He also accused the BJP government and the Election Commission of undermining the electoral process and said those responsible would not be able to escape accountability.

Speaking to the media, Rahul Gandhi said, "300 MPs were stopped here. The Election Commission is just 50 yards away, yet they are not allowing us to go there. I fail to understand what the problem is. The Election Commission's duty is to conduct elections properly. 300 MPs wish to meet Gyanesh Kumar, but he is afraid. I do not know what is happening in the country; if representatives cannot meet the Election Commission, then what is the meaning of democracy?"

Rahul Gandhi added, "What has been done to our country amounts to treason, and no one will be spared. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Mohan Bhagwat and Gyanesh Kumar have destroyed democracy ... have hijacked the nation with 'vote chori’. No one will escape accountability; action will be taken against all of them."

The sudden move also created a dramatic visual contrast: while a large number of Opposition MPs had been taken away in detention buses, the Congress leaders remained inside the Akashvani Bhavan premises, with party workers and senior leaders forming a ring around the Gandhis.

A Congress activist involved in the protest described the development as “off the script”, saying party workers had initially been asked to persuade Akhilesh Yadav to join the sit-in. By the time the message reached him, however, the SP chief had already left the spot.

Congress leaders subsequently said the sit-in ensured that the protest did not end with the detention of the Opposition MPs.

“The more the government puts pressure, the more we will revolt,” Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit told National Herald. He said Rahul Gandhi had been raising concerns over the electoral process for some time, but the Opposition had not always rallied behind the issue. “Now the issue has become a rallying point,” he said.

The protest also saw sharp rhetoric from Congress leaders against the Election Commission. Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president Manickam Tagore demanded legal action against Gyanesh Kumar, saying the CEC should face arrest if the allegations of “vote theft” were established.

The INDIA bloc has been seeking Kumar’s resignation over irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and has also demanded that the exercise be scrapped and allegedly deleted voter names restored.

The Election Commission has rejected the Opposition’s allegations and maintained that its decisions are taken in accordance with the law.

For the Opposition the immediate objective of reaching the Election Commission headquarters remained unfulfilled but the confrontation at Akashvani Bhavan gave the protest a second phase—keeping the focus on the ECI and Gyanesh Kumar alive even after the march itself had been stopped.