INDIA bloc march to ECI: Barricades put up as Opposition demands Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation

INDIA bloc MPs, including Leaders of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday marched from Parliament House complex towards the Election Commission but were stopped by police on Parliament Street, where they sat on a dharna demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation.

The MPs were stopped in front of the NITI Aayog office, on the stretch between NITI Aayog and Akashvani Bhavan leading towards the Election Commission headquarters.

After being prevented from proceeding further, they sat on the road in protest. Opposition MPs carried cutouts depicting Kumar in an RSS uniform and raised slogans, including “BJP hai CEC hai”, “Vote chor, gaddi chhod” and “Democracy not for sale”.

In a post on X, Gandhi posted, “Gyanesh it's done bro. Time to resign".

TMC leaders Abhishek Banerjee, Derek O Brien, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and CPI (M) leader John Brittas were among those who took part in the march.

Heavy security deployed ahead of march

Heavy security deployment and barricading had been put in place in and around Parliament and the Election Commission headquarters ahead of the march.

Security personnel were stationed in the area much before the MPs began arriving. The MPs gathered at Parliament's Makar Dwar before setting off towards Nirvachan Sadan, the Election Commission headquarters.

Opposition questions Form 6 changes

Ahead of the march, opposition MPs questioned the security arrangements and stepped up their demand for Kumar's resignation, citing the Supreme Court's observations on changes to Form 6, the statutory application for enrolment as a voter. Congress MP Imran Masood accused Kumar of eroding public trust in the Election Commission.

"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.

"And an entire nexus is working together. We will question Gyanesh Kumar, and the BJP chief ministers will start giving the answers," he alleged.

CPI MP P Sandosh Kumar said the Supreme Court's observations on Monday had strengthened the opposition's objections to the additional declaration attached to Form 6 during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

"On September 26, there was a press statement by the Commission and it was stated that the entire process related to Form 6 has been ratified by the Supreme Court. Whereas it has been proven that it is an entirely misleading statement," he alleged. Calling the CEC a "Cheating Election Commissioner", the CPI leader said opposition parties had been agitating against the provisions since 2025 and would intensify their movement.

Jaya Bachchan says Opposition will follow leadership

SP MP Jaya Bachchan, who is taking part in the protest, said the Opposition would follow the directions of its leadership.

"BJP's job to make allegations. They are in power, so they will do that. We are doing our work... We will act according to whatever instructions our party leadership gives us..." she said.

Raut questions security deployment

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut questioned the scale of security deployment ahead of the march, 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," he said.

Raut claimed that Border Security Force and CISF personnel had been deployed and security outside ministers' residences increased.

Accusing Kumar of misleading the public over the Supreme Court's position on Form 6, he said the CEC had "no moral right" to continue in office.

What Supreme Court said on Form 6

The Supreme Court on Monday said it had not approved any modified version of Form 6 and would examine the Election Commission's records to ascertain whether changes had been made and who had authorised them.

The observations were made while hearing a petition challenging alleged unilateral decisions by Kumar.

In its September 26 statement, the Commission had said the declaration attached to Form 6 for SIR had been upheld by the Supreme Court, while forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, would be used outside the SIR period.

The protest comes amid an opposition campaign over alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise and reports of differences within the three-member Commission. The poll body has rejected suggestions of a split and maintained that decisions relating to SIR were taken unanimously.

BJP attacks Opposition protest

The BJP has criticised the INDIA bloc’s march, with party MP and national spokesperson Sambit Patra describing it as a “sponsored effort” aimed at bringing Rahul Gandhi to power.

“For this, a sponsored attack is being carried out on India's democracy and constitutional institutions. This process did not begin a few months ago, it has been going on for years. From the beginning, the Congress party has repeatedly tried to launch and relaunch Rahul Gandhi by any means possible. Despite several attempts, when Rahul Gandhi could not be launched, the Congress party and some of its allies ultimately decided that even if they have to launch Rahul Gandhi through anarchy, they will attack the country's democracy,” Patra said.

"But at any cost, they will politically launch Rahul Gandhi. Even if we have to attack Indian democracy and establish anarchy in India, we will not desist from that, but in every possible way, we will try to launch Rahul Gandhi... EVMs have been attacked. And for the past few weeks and months, the Election Commission has been under attack," he added.