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Around 300 Opposition MPs, including Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, marched to the Election Commission in New Delhi over ‘vote theft’ claims. Several leaders were detained by police.
LoP in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the Monsoon session of Parliament (PTI)
High drama unfolded in New Delhi on Monday as around 300 Opposition MPs, including Congress’s Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, SP’s Akhilesh Yadav, marched to the Election Commission office over the ‘vote theft’ allegations.
The Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition was among multiple leaders and MPs who were detained by Delhi Police during their protest march against the Election Commission over Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in poll-bound Bihar and allegations of “voter fraud” during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
While speaking to reporters, Rahul Gandhi refused to submit a formal declaration to substantiate his allegation, saying it was the poll body’s data, not his own, that he had been asked to sign in the affidavit.
“It is their (Election Commission) data. It is not my data that I will sign (an affidavit)… Put that data on your website and you will get to know. All this is just to distract from the issue. This has not just taken place in Bengaluru but several other constituencies too…” Rahul Gandhi said, as quoted by news agency ANI.
#WATCH | Delhi: On notices from the Election Commission, Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi says, “It is their (Election Commission) data. It is not my data that I will sign (an affidavit)… Put that data on your website and you will get to know. All this is just to… pic.twitter.com/FTljvHKhW1— ANI (@ANI) August 11, 2025
The Congress leader further asserted that this protest is a “fight to save the Constitution” and demanded a “pure” voters list from the Election Commission.
Rahul Gandhi told reporters while being detained, “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.”
The other leaders who were detained were Shive Sena Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, and TMC MP Sagarika Ghose.
The detained MPs were coralled into a bus to be taken to the Parliament Street police station.
Delhi Police Cites Lack of Permission
Police said the opposition leaders were detained and taken to Parliament Street Police Station as only the Election Commission had only given permission to 30 MPs to enter its premises but the protesters were in “large numbers”.
Police said no one had sought permission for the protest march to the Election Commission.
The opposition leaders had planned a march from Makar Dwar in Parliament to the Election Commission office where they wanted to hand over a memorandum on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) issue to the EC.
“The MPs have been informed that only 30 MPs are allowed to go to the Election Commission. We will take them there once we get their names from the EC,” a senior police officer said.
Why This Protest?
The INDIA bloc leaders launched a protest after senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday addressed a letter to the Election Commission of India (ECI), underscoring that Opposition MPs intended to collectively hand over a memorandum, not merely send a small delegation.
In the letter dated August 10, Ramesh, writing on behalf of political parties in Opposition in Parliament, informed the Chief Election Commissioner that all Opposition MPs would stage a peaceful march from the Parliament House to Nirvachan Sadan on August 11 after 11.30 am.
The MPs sought a meeting with the Commission to raise concerns, including but not limited to the Bihar SIR.
Later, the Election Commission gave an appointment for 12 pm to the Opposition MPs.
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben…Read More
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben… Read More
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