Rahul, Priyanka Detained again

High Drama @Jantar Mantar Amid Protest Against CEC

High drama unfolded in central Delhi on Wednesday evening as Delhi Police detained Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and several other INDIA bloc leaders while they attempted to reach Jantar Mantar for a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The action marked the second consecutive day of confrontations between opposition MPs and security forces over allegations of “vote chori” (vote theft) linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.⁠

The protest plan emerged after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hosted a solidarity lunch for INDIA bloc MPs at a restaurant on Janpath. Following the meeting, around 300 opposition lawmakers boarded buses and set out for Jantar Mantar, the designated site for peaceful demonstrations in the capital. Some leaders climbed onto the roofs of the buses carrying the Tricolour and raised slogans as the convoy moved through the high-security zone.⁠

Delhi Police, however, stopped the buses near Ashoka Road and the Janpath intersection, preventing the MPs from reaching the protest venue. Heavy barricading and a large deployment of security personnel brought traffic to a halt in the area. 

Opposition leaders responded with a road sit-in, sloganeering and defiance. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other women MPs lay down on the road leading to Jantar Mantar. Rahul Gandhi was taken into a police bus, while women police personnel forcibly removed Priyanka from the site.⁠Zeenews.india

Priyanka later alleged that the women police personnel who detained her shoved her to the ground and scratched her. “I will not move from here. This is how they treat MPs who simply want to meet the Election Commission. This is how they beat up MPs. Women police personnel have scratched me all over and thrown us to the ground. Let them call their forces back,” she said, according to Congress accounts and video footage circulating from the scene.⁠

Rahul Gandhi, speaking earlier after the lunch, reiterated the opposition’s core demand. He said approximately 300 MPs had wanted to meet the Chief Election Commissioner the previous day but were not allowed. “So today, we intend to go to the designated protest site—Jantar Mantar—and sit there once again to convey to the nation that, for us, Shri Gyanesh Kumar is not a legitimate Election Commissioner of the country. Modi ji, Amit Shah ji, Mohan Bhagwat, and Gyanesh Kumar ji have destroyed the country’s democracy… Gyanesh Kumar will have to resign,” he declared.⁠Hindustantimes

On the FIR registered against him and others after Tuesday’s events, Rahul struck a defiant note. “I have 45 FIRs against me. My target is that there should be 100 FIRs against me. Every FIR against me is a medal for me,” he told reporters, adding that he would continue fighting to protect the Constitution

Wednesday’s detentions followed a dramatic day-long standoff on Tuesday. Opposition MPs had marched from Parliament towards the Election Commission headquarters demanding Kumar’s resignation and answers on the SIR exercise, which they claim has led to large-scale deletion of voter names. Stopped by police near Akashvani Bhawan, Rahul and Priyanka managed to enter the premises and staged an eight-hour sit-in before being detained along with others. An FIR was subsequently registered alleging unauthorised entry into the government building. Around 260 people were detained that day and later released.⁠

Other leaders detained or present during Wednesday’s action included Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien, Congress leaders such as Pawan Khera, Charanjit Singh Channi and others from the INDIA bloc. Pawan Khera accused the authorities of denying democratic rights, stating that Jantar Mantar is a designated protest site and Article 19 of the Constitution guarantees the right to peaceful assembly. “We are fighting for the rights of the country’s voters—still every time, we are being stopped,” he said.⁠

The INDIA bloc has framed the protests as a battle to safeguard electoral integrity and democracy. Leaders have accused the Election Commission of bias and alleged irregularities in the voter list revision process. Parallel demonstrations have been reported in several states. Police maintained that the movements were being regulated to maintain public order in the high-security central Delhi zone.

As evening set in, the detained leaders were taken away in police vehicles. The opposition has signalled that the agitation will continue until their demands for the CEC’s resignation and a review of the SIR process are addressed. The repeated detentions of senior opposition figures, including the Gandhi siblings, have intensified the political confrontation in the national capital, keeping the debate over electoral reforms and institutional independence firmly in the spotlight.⁠ The events of the past two days underscore the deepening divide between the ruling establishment and the opposition over the functioning of the Election Commission, with both sides digging in for a prolonged political battle.