India opposition leader Rahul Gandhi detained as police break up protest over voter roll revision

By Abhishek Dey & Nikita Yadav, BBC News, Delhi

Updated 3 hours ago

Delhi witnessed dramatic scenes on Tuesday evening when police broke up a protest by opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and other Members of Parliament who were demanding the resignation of India's top election official over a controversial voter roll revision.

Videos showing police forcing Gandhi onto a bus and preventing him from climbing out of the bus window subsequently went viral on social media.

The protest marks a fresh escalation in the opposition's standoff with the Election Commission.

Background of the Dispute

Opposition parties accuse Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar of revising electoral rolls to benefit India's governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Both the BJP and the commission have rejected the allegation.

Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and other MPs sat in protest at a nearby building for the entire day after they were stopped during their march to the Election Commission's office.

Election Commission's Response

The commission said it was willing to meet the opposition but objected to their proposed 240-member delegation meeting at the parliament. In a statement released on Tuesday night, it said that a party representative must request an appointment and that meetings are held at the commission.

Gandhi had said earlier in the day that the opposition simply wanted to meet the election commissioners and ask questions about the voter roll revision.

"We are all opposition MPs... and we just want to speak with them. I do not know why the Election Commission does not want to talk to us." — Rahul Gandhi

Police Action

News agency ANI, citing a statement from the police, reported that the protesters were removed "to maintain law and order and prevent the situation from escalating."

A police complaint has also been registered against the Gandhis for entering Akashvani Bhavan (the Broadcasting House) without permission, PTI news agency reported.

Security was tightened around the Election Commission headquarters on Tuesday, with police barricading roads along the route between parliament and the commission's office. Police officers, some carrying batons and wearing body cameras, reportedly outnumbered protesters along the route to the poll panel's office.

In the afternoon, they detained several MPs who tried to take alternative routes to reach the commission, police official Manjeet Sheoran told the BBC.

"They were picked up in buses and taken to different police stations." — Manjeet Sheoran, Police Official

The Gandhi siblings were also detained and taken away in a police bus but were released shortly afterwards. They then resumed their march before staging a sit-in at Akashvani Bhavan near the Election Commission headquarters.

Police did not say how many lawmakers were detained. The opposition said 237 MPs from several parties took part in the march.

Broader Context

Tuesday's protest came just four days after the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a Gen Z-backed online satirical movement, organised demonstrations in Mumbai and Delhi, also demanding the CEC's resignation. The group has described those demonstrations as the beginning of a nationwide campaign and has called for another round of protests on 10 October.

The Voter Roll Controversy

At the centre of the controversy is the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The exercise began in the eastern state of Bihar in June 2025 before being expanded to other parts of the country.

• The commission says the revision is intended to remove duplicate and ineligible voters from electoral rolls.
• More than 130 million names have so far been removed from draft voter lists nationwide.
• Opposition parties and activists allege that many eligible voters have been excluded and accuse the poll panel of conducting the process improperly.

Allegations Against the CEC

The campaign against Kumar gathered momentum after an investigation by the Indian Express newspaper reported that election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally objected at least 14 times over a 10-month period to decisions and orders they said had been issued in the commission's name without their knowledge.

According to the report, the objections related to issues including:

• Additions and deletions from voter rolls
• Access to the voter database
• Security of electoral data

The three-member commission, comprising the CEC and two election commissioners, defended its decision-making process, saying differing views were part of institutional functioning and that decisions had ultimately been taken unanimously.

Political Reactions

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said they had three "non-negotiable" demands:

1. Kumar's resignation
2. Cancellation of the SIR exercise
3. A return to paper ballot voting

Mocking the election chief, Rahul Gandhi tweeted: "Gyanesh, it's done, bro. Time to resign."

The BJP condemned the protests. BJP MP Sambit Patra described them as a "sponsored attempt" to bring about a change of power through "anarchy." He accused opposition parties of seeking to undermine constitutional institutions, including the Election Commission.

Legal Developments

The controversy has also reached India's Supreme Court, which has asked both the federal government and the Election Commission to respond to a petition alleging that Kumar took key decisions without the approval of the two other election commissioners.

Related Topics

• India
• Narendra Modi
• Asia
• Delhi
• Democracy