Opposition MPs march to demand Election Commissioner resignation

A political showdown erupted in New Delhi on Tuesday as opposition INDIA bloc MPs marched to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, drawing sharp counterattacks from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

Led by Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and senior opposition figures including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Trinamool Congress MPs Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O’Brien, hundreds of parliamentarians marched from Parliament toward the Election Commission of India’s office near Akashvani Bhavan. Security personnel stopped the march and detained several opposition leaders near Parliament Street.

The protest marked the fifth day of demonstrations against the poll body leadership, stemming from a controversy that erupted last month over reports that election commissioners Vivek Joshi and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu had objected on record to multiple poll panel decisions. The opposition’s core grievance focuses on the alleged deletion of over 13 crore voters during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.

During a media interaction, Rahul Gandhi alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had “hijacked” the country through vote manipulation with the assistance of Gyanesh Kumar. He stated that over 300 opposition lawmakers participated in the march simply to seek a meeting with the CEC and election commissioners.

The Biju Janata Dal announced it would join the opposition agitation. Rajya Sabha Parliamentary Party leader Manas Mangaraj said party MPs would participate in the protest march under the direction of party president Naveen Patnaik.

The BJP strongly rejected the allegations, accusing the opposition of staging street theatrics and attempting to relaunch Rahul Gandhi politically. BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi claimed the Congress party was intoxicated by defeat in multiple states and questioned the opposition’s stance on voting rights.

“What is the Congress’s intention behind giving voting rights to absent, shifted, dead and duplicate voters without any verification, and whom does it want to benefit,” Trivedi asked during a media briefing. He characterized the march as an effort by the opposition alliance to create anarchy.