INDIA Bloc SIR Protest: Rahul Gandhi, Kharge Lead March Stopped by Police

INDIA bloc MPs on Tuesday marched from Parliament towards the Election Commission headquarters to protest the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The march began from Makar Dwar around 11 am, with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi among those leading the mobilisation. The MPs were stopped by security personnel near the NITI Aayog office on Parliament Street, on the stretch leading towards the Election Commission headquarters.

After being stopped, the MPs staged a sit-in protest and raised slogans demanding Kumar’s resignation. Rahul Gandhi and TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee were among those who climbed a police barricade after the march was halted. Several opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, were later detained by police.

TMC leaders Derek O’Brien and Abhishek Banerjee, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and CPI(M) leader John Brittas also participated in the march. The Biju Janata Dal joined the protest, while the AAP and DMK stayed away from Tuesday’s mobilisation.

The protest followed a September 30 meeting of 19 opposition parties, which decided to organise district-level “Save Democracy” marches between October 2 and 8. The parties also planned joint rallies, legal action concerning SIR-related cases and an effort to meet President Droupadi Murmu to present their concerns.

The opposition’s latest mobilisation came a day after the Supreme Court clarified that it had not approved any modified version of Form 6, the application used for voter enrolment. The court sought records from the Election Commission to determine whether changes were made and who authorised them.

The Election Commission has maintained that Form 6 itself was not modified, and that a separate declaration was added for the SIR process. The poll panel has also rejected reports of differences within its three-member body and said decisions concerning SIR were taken unanimously.

Heavy security deployment and barricading were put in place around Parliament and the Election Commission headquarters ahead of the protest.