Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav was seen vaulting over a police barricade after officers blocked the leaders’ march from Parliament. The protest was organised to oppose the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar and to protest allegations of large-scale “voter fraud” in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Leaders blocked near Parliament
The march, led by Congress MP and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, set off from Parliament at around 11:30 am with over 300 MPs from both Houses participating. However, the group was stopped within minutes as Delhi Police erected multiple barricades along the route to the EC office.
"The reality is that they cannot talk. The truth is in front of the country. This fight is not political. This fight is to save the Constitution. This fight is for One Man, One Vote. We want a clean, pure voters list," he said.
Personnel in large numbers, along with quick reaction teams and additional security vehicles, were deployed to ensure order.Ahead of the protest, Delhi Police stated that no permission had been sought for the march. Security arrangements were intensified near the EC office and adjoining areas to prevent any untoward incident and to manage traffic flow.
The INDIA bloc’s show of strength came just days after Rahul Gandhi held a press conference presenting what he described as an “atom bomb” of evidence against the poll body, accusing it of “vote chori” in the general elections. The opposition has claimed that the alleged irregularities and voter list manipulation in Bihar threaten the integrity of the upcoming polls.
Rahul, Priyanka, Sanjay Raut detained
Delhi Police detained INDIA bloc MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Sanjay Raut, and Sagarika Ghose, among others, who were protesting against the SIR and staged a march from Parliament to the Election Commission of India.
On this, Priyanka said, "Dare hue hai. Sarkaar kaayar hai."
Rahul Gandhi's questions deserve answers: Shashi Tharoor
At the protest, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said, "For me, the issue is very simple. Rahul Gandhi has raised some serious questions; they deserve serious answers. The Election Commission not only has a responsibility to the nation, but it has a responsibility to itself that there should not be any doubts left in the minds of the public about this entire credibility of our elections. The elections matter to the whole country. Our democracy is too precious to be jeopardised by doubts about whether there is duplicate voting, whether there are multiple addresses, or whether there are fake votes. If there are doubts in people's minds, they should be addressed. There may be answers available to these questions, but those answers must be provided credibly. That is my only request that the Election Commission should take the questions and address them..."
