For the third day in a row, leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) on Thursday (October 8, 2026) protested in Delhi against alleged “vote c hori [theft]” and demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, staging a symbolic s atyagraha at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial at Rajghat.
Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. “Mahatma Gandhi led the freedom fight for India. The entire democracy has been completely finished by Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah through Gyanesh Kumar. We have come here to pray to the Mahatma. This is one of the most powerful agitations,” Mr.
Venugopal said the INDIA bloc had sent a message by holding the protest at Rajghat. Venugopal said.
Senior leaders, including Mamata All India Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, may join the march, even though President Droupadi Murmu has not yet given an appointment. Kharge hosted a lunch for Opposition MPs and leaders at Moets restaurant in the Outer Circle of Connaught Place. “They will be brought to justice.
The INDIA bloc will continue its protest on Friday (October 9) and is likely to march towards Rashtrapati Bhavan after assembling at Parliament House in the morning. In a replay of Wednesday’s (October 7) outreach, Mr. In a show of Opposition unity, leaders of the Samajwadi Party, Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) were present at Thursday’s (October 8) lunch.
The leaders offered floral tributes and “prayed at the memorial”, with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge saying “they prayed for the BJP government gets the wisdom to stop vote chori , remove the CEC and protect the citizen’s right to vote”. The Opposition leader claimed that around 300 MPs wanted to hold a peaceful d harna on the first day, but were stopped near the Election Commission’s office, while on the second day, they were prevented from going to Jantar Mantar and were “beaten up”. This is our guarantee, and you will see it happen,” he said.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Mr.
Kumar of “hijacking” the country by allegedly indulging in vote theft .
