Delhi Police cracked down on a major opposition protest, briefly detaining Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and over 250 INDIA bloc MPs. The action followed an eight-hour standoff near Nirvachan Sadan on Tuesday.
Led by Gandhi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, around 300 MPs marched from Parliament, demanding the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. Halted by heavy police barricading, the leaders launched a daylong sit-in on the premises of Akashvani Bhawan.
By late evening, security personnel forcefully cleared the site, bundling top leaders onto police buses. They were held at Kingsway Camp Police Station for two hours before being released.
An FIR has been registered against the opposition leaders for entering the public broadcasting campus without authorization.
The political storm centers around the Election Commission of India's (ECI) controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The opposition alleges widespread "vote theft" and manipulation aimed at favoring the ruling BJP. Internal rifts have also emerged, with reports revealing that the other two Election Commissioners formally objected 14 times to decisions issued unilaterally by the CEC.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has issued notices to the federal government and the ECI regarding the legality of the revision process.