The Opposition hit the streets of the national capital for a second consecutive day on Wednesday to push for chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation as lawmakers protested for more than three hours, bringing central Delhi to a halt and angering the Bharatiya Janata Party .
The Opposition – which already announced another stir on Thursday – has also sought time from President Droupadi Murmu to discuss the controversial special intensive revision and Kumar’s removal.
Gandhi was taken to the Barakhamba police station and he was released around 8pm. There was also an impromptu sit-in outside the Shangri La hotel at 4pm when the MPs were stopped by police, with Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra lying flat on her back on the street, clutching a copy of the Constitution, with five-six leaders around her. Rahul Gandhi resisted police attempts to put him inside a van for detention. Other INDIA bloc leaders such as Mahua Moitra jostled with security personnel who tried to detain them. Around 6pm, the Gandhis and many Congress workers were bundled in buses and detained. Further drama ensued minutes later when a bus carrying Rahul Gandhi suffered a punctured tyre on KG Marg. After few minutes, another bus carried the MPs away. It also alleged that election officials found their access to the ECI software curtailed by the central IT team. One thing has become very clear from this—they do not care about constitutionality. They are solely and exclusively concerned with anarchy.”
Delhi police spokesperson said a total 91 INDIA bloc leaders and workers were detained. The show of strength – which included 13 parties – was part of the Opposition’s plan to mount pressure on Kumar over SIR and other allegations. The developments come after an Indian Express investigation said election commissioners SS Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded written dissents and objections at least 14 times between November 2025 and August 2026 and even written to the cabinet secretary.
ECI said differing views and observations were a normal part of deliberation and that all its digital platforms operated under strict data security protocols. BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi said, “What the first family of Congress has done on the streets of Delhi is highly unfortunate and condemnable.
BJP president Nitin Nabin hit back, saying that “any attempt to create an atmosphere of anarchy in Delhi through anti-social elements will never succeed”. “If infiltrators’ names are being removed through the SIR and the opposition is raising questions about our democracy for this, then the biggest question arises on the opposition’s anti-national intentions and designs,” he said in a post on X. Trinamool Congress’s Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O’Brien, one of the signatories of the Opposition’s letter to the President, told HT, “We have sought a meeting with President Murmu to raise our issues related to SIR and to demand Gyanesh Kumar’s removal.”
