IndiaPosted at: Oct 6 2026 1:45PM


‘Gyanesh, it’s done bro, time to resign’: INDIA Bloc’s march to EC turns Delhi streets into ‘Vote Bachao’ Battleground

Shahid K Abbas New Delhi, Oct 6 (UNI)A sea of white kurtas, colourful party stoles and fiery anti-Election Commission slogans spilled out of Parliament on Tuesday as hundreds of INDIA bloc MPs marched towards Nirvachan Sadan, turning the heart of the capital into a dramatic theatre of political confrontation over electoral rolls, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and allegations of “vote theft”.
Led by Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, the march brought together MPs from the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Shiv Sena (UBT), the Left and other opposition parties. The protesters demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and greater transparency and accountability in the functioning of the Election Commission of India.
The protest began at Makar Dwar, where opposition MPs assembled behind large banners carrying messages such as “Save Democracy”, “Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao”, “Save My Vote”, “Vote Chori” and “SIR: Stealing Democratic Rights”. Chants of “Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod” and “Save Democracy” reverberated through the Parliament complex as the MPs set off towards the Election Commission headquarters.
The march quickly became a vivid display of the Opposition’s escalating confrontation with the poll panel. Protesters carried cutouts portraying Gyanesh Kumar in an RSS uniform and accused the Election Commission of compromising its institutional independence.
Among those participating were Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Jairam Ramesh, Pramod Tiwari and Manickam Tagore; Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav; Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, Derek O’Brien and Sagarika Ghose; Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Priyanka Chaturvedi and Sanjay Raut; and CPI(M) MP John Brittas.
The participation of the Biju Janata Dal added another political dimension to the mobilisation, with the party joining the protest despite remaining outside the principal Congress-led opposition alliance. The Aam Aadmi Party and the DMK, however, stayed away from Tuesday’s march, underlining the continuing limits to Opposition unity.
The procession did not reach Nirvachan Sadan. Delhi Police had erected heavy barricades and deployed substantial security, including Rapid Action Force personnel, along the route. The MPs were stopped near the NITI Aayog office on the stretch leading towards Akashvani Bhavan and the Election Commission headquarters after the gathering exceeded the permitted limit of 30 people.
The Opposition leadership refused to simply disperse. With the route blocked, the road itself became an impromptu protest site. Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Mallikarjun Kharge and several other leaders sat on the road in a dharna as the standoff with the police intensified. Several senior MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Kharge, Akhilesh Yadav and Sanjay Raut, were briefly detained before being released.
In one of the most striking images of the confrontation, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra climbed atop a police barricade as protesters and security personnel faced off. Trinamool Congress MPs Mahua Moitra and Mitali Baugh were also reported to have fainted amid the commotion and were given medical assistance.
Rahul Gandhi later summed up the mood of the protest in a terse social-media message directed at the Chief Election Commissioner: “Gyanesh, it’s done bro. Time to resign.”
Kharge, too, intensified the political attack, accusing the government and the poll panel of weakening democratic institutions. Protesters raised slogans including “BJP hai, CEC hai” and “Democracy not for sale”, reflecting the Opposition’s central allegation that the Election Commission can no longer be treated as an impartial arbiter of the electoral process.
At the heart of the confrontation is the Opposition’s contention that the SIR of electoral rolls, coupled with alleged irregularities in the processing of voter-registration forms, particularly Form 6, could threaten the voting rights of legitimate electors. The INDIA bloc has linked the issue to its broader “Save Democracy” and “Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao” campaign and has demanded that the revision exercise be scrapped, allegedly deleted names restored and the Election Commission disclose greater details about changes made to electoral rolls.
The Opposition has also sought to use recent Supreme Court proceedings concerning electoral-roll revision and changes involving voter-registration forms to reinforce its demand for closer scrutiny of the poll panel. The Election Commission, however, has repeatedly rejected allegations of manipulation, bias and partisan conduct.
The poll panel has maintained that the SIR exercise is being conducted within the constitutional and statutory framework governing electoral rolls and has denied acting at the behest of the ruling party. It has also insisted that decisions relating to the revision process have been taken in accordance with established procedures.
Tuesday’s street confrontation nevertheless marked a significant escalation in the Opposition’s campaign. For the Congress, the march was not an isolated demonstration but part of a larger political mobilisation designed to keep the electoral-roll controversy at the centre of national politics for months.
The party has announced block-level “Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao” campaigns between October 10 and 20, featuring bicycle and motorcycle rallies, leaflet distribution and protests. From October 25 to November 25, booth-level chaupals are planned with the participation of senior leaders. A mega rally has been scheduled for November 1 at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, followed by six “Chalo Delhi” marches on November 25 and 26, culminating in the capital on Constitution Day.
The Congress has also stepped up its rhetoric against the poll panel, increasingly referring to the Election Commission as the “Cheating Commission”. The party has indicated that the issue will be pursued during the Winter Session of Parliament, including the possibility of seeking an impeachment motion against the Chief Election Commissioner.
For Rahul Gandhi and the Congress, the battle is therefore being framed as something much larger than a dispute over SIR. The party is seeking to transform the controversy into a national political campaign around what it describes as the protection of the “right to vote” and the integrity of India’s electoral system. The Samajwadi Party and other Opposition partners are similarly keen to sustain the momentum ahead of the next round of Assembly elections.
Tuesday’s march also served as a test of the Opposition’s ability to mobilise across party lines. The participation of the BJD demonstrated that the issue has the potential to attract parties beyond the formal INDIA bloc, even as the absence of the AAP and DMK showed that Opposition unity remains tactical and issue-specific rather than complete.
By the time the detained leaders were released and the roads around Parliament and Nirvachan Sadan began returning to normal, the political confrontation had already moved beyond the barricades. What began at Makar Dwar as a procession of MPs carrying “Save Democracy” placards ended with senior Opposition leaders sitting on the asphalt before police barricades, turning the streets of central Delhi into the latest battlefield in their confrontation with the Election Commission.
With the Congress preparing a nationwide mobilisation and the Opposition determined to carry the issue into Parliament’s Winter Session, Tuesday’s protest is unlikely to remain a one-day spectacle. The battle over electoral rolls, SIR and the independence of the Election Commission has now become a defining political fault line, with both sides preparing for a prolonged confrontation in the weeks ahead. UNI SKA AAB
Tags: #‘Gyanesh# it’s done bro# time to resign’: INDIA Bloc’s march to EC turns Delhi streets into ‘Vote Bachao’ Battleground
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