Rahul, Priyanka, and other Congress leaders released by Delhi Police after detention

New Delhi:  Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and other Congress leaders, who were detained after their over-eight-hour sit-in inside the Akashwani Bhawan premises, were released by the Delhi Police after 10 pm on Tuesday. Priyanka Gandhi climbed over a gate at the New Police Line, Kingsway Camp, where Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders were being held. Congress workers and others also entered the premises.

The leaders were taken to the Kingsway Camp police lines after being forcibly removed from the Akashwani Bhawan premises, where they held an over-eight-hour sit-in protest after not being allowed to march towards the Election Commission's (EC) office.

The two had remained inside the premises after the INDIA bloc march to the Election Commission was stopped by police. Despite repeated requests to vacate the area, Rahul and Priyanka continued their protest, demanding access to the poll panel.

Police had eventually detained the Gandhi siblings along with other protesting leaders and cleared the Akashwani Bhawan premises, bringing the prolonged standoff to an end.

Rahul Gandhi alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat have "hijacked" the country with the help of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar by carrying out "vote chori", and asserted that action will be taken against them for committing "treason".

Nobody is going to escape accountability, Gandhi said during a standoff with police on the Akashwani Bhavan premises after opposition MPs were prevented from marching to the Election Commission office, barely 300 metres away.

"I am not interested in what the BJP says. I am standing here to protect democracy in the country. Along with me, 300 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs have come, and they are also trying to protect democracy," the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha told reporters.

"Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Mohan Bhagwat and CEC Gyanesh Kumar have finished off democracy in the country. The whole country believes this; the youth of the country also believe this. The police people who were stopping me are also saying this. The reality is known to everyone," Gandhi said.

He alleged that Prime Minister Modi, Shah and Bhagwat have hijacked the country through "vote chori". They were helped by Gyanesh Kumar, Gandhi added. "There will be action against them. None of them will be spared, be it PM Modi, Home Minister Shah, RSS chief Bhagwat or CEC Gyanesh Kumar. What has been done to our country is treason. Nobody is going to escape," the former Congress chief stressed.

Earlier, in a post on X, Gandhi said more than 300 opposition MPs marched from Parliament to meet the Election Commissioners. "We represent crores of Indians. Why aren't the Election Commissioners meeting us? Why is the police stopping and threatening us?" Gandhi said.

Gandhi again interacted with the media as the sit-in at the Akashvani Bhavan stretched into the evening and asserted that MPs will meet the Election Commissioners.

EC sources, however, said that it has not received any request from any political party for any meeting. "They will have to meet us... The MPs were disrespected. We have not done anything wrong. We want to go to the election commissioners and ask questions of them and tell them that they have done vote chori," Gandhi said.

Meanwhile, high drama unfolded during the INDIA bloc's march to the Election Commission of India headquarters. Defying the police cordon, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, along with some other opposition MPs, entered the Akashvani Bhawan premises. Several opposition leaders, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Trinamool Congress MPs Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O'Brien, were detained after police halted the march.

Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and other MPs were stopped by security personnel on Parliament Street, near the Akashvani Bhawan and NITI Aayog offices, as they marched towards the Election Commission demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation.

After being stopped, the opposition MPs sat on the road and staged a protest. Soon, Rahul Gandhi and TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee climbed onto a police barricade, while Priyanka Gandhi was taken to a waiting bus for detention. She was soon seen getting off the bus and joining her brother at the Akashvani Bhawan gate. Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Congress MP Deepender Hooda then entered the Akashvani Bhawan premises through the reception gate despite resistance from the police. They were later seen sitting under a tree inside the premises.

Police personnel asked the protesting leaders to vacate the premises, but the Gandhi siblings refused to leave, insisting that they wanted to proceed to the Election Commission office. Deputy Commissioner of Police Sachin Sharma reached the spot with a large contingent of police personnel in an attempt to evict the protesting opposition MPs from the premises.

During the march, opposition MPs carried cutouts depicting Kumar in an RSS uniform and raised slogans including “BJP hi CEC hai”, “Vote chor, gaddi chhod” and “Democracy not for sale”.

In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi said, “Gyanesh it's done bro. Time to resign.”

Heavy security deployment and barricading were put in place around Parliament and the Election Commission headquarters ahead of the protest. Security personnel were stationed in the area well before the MPs began arriving. The opposition MPs had gathered at Parliament's Makar Dwar before setting off towards Nirvachan Sadan, the Election Commission headquarters. Ahead of the march, they questioned the security arrangements and renewed 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. Questions were never raised over its impartiality. One person has broken that trust,” he told PTI.

“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 Kumar a “Cheating Election Commissioner”, the CPI leader said opposition parties had been protesting against the provisions since 2025 and would intensify their agitation.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut also questioned the heavy security deployment, saying the MPs intended to march 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.

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 came while the court was hearing a petition challenging alleged unilateral decisions by Kumar.

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

The latest protest is part of the opposition's campaign against alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise and reports of differences within the three-member Election Commission. The poll body has rejected suggestions of a split and maintained that decisions relating to the SIR were taken unanimously.