Opposition MPs protest toward Election Commission as leaders climb barricades and stage sit-in

Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi climbed police barricades and waved the Tricolour during an opposition INDIA bloc protest march toward the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday.

Accompanied by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, party MP Priyanka Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, and Trinomool Congress MPs Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O’Brien, over 300 opposition MPs joined the march from the Parliament House complex. The demonstration was organised to submit a formal memorandum amid opposition allegations against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the poll body’s special intensive revision exercise.

When police blocked the march, the MPs staged a sit-in on the road. Rahul Gandhi and Abhishek Banerjee subsequently climbed the barricades while protesters raised slogans, with the Lok Sabha LoP waving the national flag from atop the structure.

During the demonstration, Priyanka Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O’Brien were briefly detained. Although Priyanka Gandhi was initially led toward a waiting bus, she stepped off and rejoined Rahul Gandhi and other leaders at the Akashvani gate. Despite police attempts to stop them, the opposition leaders entered the Akashvani Bhawan premises—located roughly 100 metres from the ECI office—and staged a sit-in inside the complex.

Speaking to reporters from the Akashvani complex, Rahul Gandhi stated that the opposition alliance was “trying to save democracy in the country” and asserted that they were not merely countering the poll body, but would “destroy them.”

Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Rahul accused them of dismantling the nation’s democratic system. He claimed that the public and the country’s youth shared this view, adding that he made the remarks with careful consideration and that action would be taken against them.