- INDIA bloc MPs protested CEC Kumar regarding Form 6.
- Many leaders, including Rahul, were detained during the march.
Amid the INDIA bloc’s protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the opposition would not only counter the BJP but “destroy them”.
Meanwhile, he also alleged that what had been done to the country amounted to “treason”.
Speaking during the protest, Gandhi said, “We are not only going to counter them (BJP), but we will destroy them…What has been done to our country is called treason; nobody is going to escape.”
The remarks came as INDIA bloc MPs, led by Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, marched from Parliament towards the Election Commission headquarters demanding Kumar’s resignation.
Rahul, Priyanka Detained During March
The opposition MPs had set out from Parliament’s Makar Dwar towards Nirvachan Sadan, the Election Commission headquarters. Their march was halted on Parliament Street, in front of the NITI Aayog office, on the stretch between NITI Aayog and Akashvani Bhavan leading towards the poll panel headquarters.
As security personnel prevented the MPs from moving ahead, Rahul Gandhi was seen climbing the barricades and waving the Tricolour. The opposition MPs subsequently sat on the road and staged a dharna.
Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were later detained and taken inside Akashvani Bhavan. The two had reached the gates of the building while attempting to proceed towards the ECI office.
Congress leaders Pawan Khera and KC Venugopal also reached Akashvani Bhavan during the protest demanding Kumar’s resignation.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Trinamool Congress leaders Derek O’Brien and Abhishek Banerjee, along with other opposition leaders, were detained and taken away in a bus after police halted the march on Parliament Street.
‘Gyanesh It’s Done Bro’: Rahul’s Earlier Post
The protesters carried cutouts depicting Kumar in an RSS uniform and raised slogans such as “BJP hai CEC hai”, “Vote chor, gaddi chhod” and “Democracy not for sale”.
In a post on X, Gandhi said, “Gyanesh it’s done bro. Time to resign”.
TMC leaders Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O’Brien, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and CPI (M) leader John Brittas were among those participating in the march.
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Heavy Security Deployed
Heavy security and barricading had been arranged around Parliament and the Election Commission headquarters well before the opposition MPs assembled.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut questioned the deployment, saying the MPs intended to proceed peacefully.
“We are MPs. We are members of Parliament. We are also citizens of this country. Why is there a need to deploy such a large force to stop us? We will walk and go. We are unarmed,” Raut told PTI Videos.
Raut claimed that Border Security Force and CISF personnel had been deployed and that security outside ministers’ residences had also been strengthened.
He also accused Kumar of misleading the public about the Supreme Court’s position on Form 6 and said the CEC had “no moral right” to remain in office.
Opposition Targets ECI Over Form 6
The march followed the Supreme Court’s observations on Monday regarding Form 6, the statutory application used for voter enrolment.
The court said it had not approved any modified version of the form and would examine the Election Commission’s records to determine whether changes had been made and who had authorised them.
The remarks came during the hearing of a petition challenging alleged unilateral decisions by Kumar.
The Election Commission, in its September 26 statement, had said the declaration attached to Form 6 for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) had been upheld by the Supreme Court, while forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, would apply outside the SIR period.
Opposition Alleges Erosion Of Trust
Congress MP Imran Masood alleged that Kumar had damaged public confidence in the poll panel.
“Across the country, the institution that Gyanesh Kumar headed was an institution the entire country trusted, an institution the entire country took pride in and felt proud of. Questions were never raised over its impartiality. One person has broken that trust,” he told PTI Videos.
Masood further alleged, “And an entire nexus is working together. We will question Gyanesh Kumar, and the BJP chief ministers will start giving the answers.”
CPI MP P Sandosh Kumar said the Supreme Court’s observations had strengthened the opposition’s objections to the additional declaration attached to Form 6 during the SIR exercise.
He alleged that the Commission’s September 26 statement, saying the Form 6 process had been ratified by the court, was misleading.
Calling Kumar a “Cheating Election Commissioner”, the CPI leader said opposition parties had been protesting the provisions since 2025 and would intensify their campaign.
Opposition Campaign Over SIR
The protest comes amid the opposition’s broader campaign over alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise and reports of differences within the three-member Election Commission.
The poll panel has rejected suggestions of a split and maintained that decisions concerning SIR were taken unanimously.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: abplive.com
