INDIA bloc leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and others at Raj Ghat in New Delhi on Thursday (October 8).
CEC row LIVE: INDIA bloc MPs leave Raj Ghat after protest
Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi alleged that PM Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and CEC Gyanesh Kumar have destroyed the Constitution and asserted that they will be brought to justice for their conspiracy
Opposition leaders of the INDIA bloc on Thursday (October 8) staged a peaceful protest at Mahatma Gandhi's memorial at Raj Ghat to highlight what it alleged was the "hijacking" of the country by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) through a criminal conspiracy by indulging in 'vote chori'.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi alleged that Modi, Shah, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and CEC Gyanesh Kumar have destroyed the Constitution and asserted that they will be brought to justice for their conspiracy.
Lunch meeting
Rahul said this after Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge hosted a lunch for Opposition MPs and leaders at a restaurant in central Delhi and decided to sit in a peaceful protest at Raj Ghat.
Then they left for Raj Ghat in air-conditioned buses parked outside the restaurant. Some of the leaders and MPs climbed atop the bus in which Rahul Gandhi and Kharge were travelling and were seen waving the tricolour.
Meanwhile, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) launched a major demonstration at Freedom Park in Bengaluru on Thursday even as the INDIA bloc intensified its campaign against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with coordinated protests across multiple cities demanding the rollback of voter-list revisions and the resignation of Gyanesh.
In Bengaluru, the CJP protest drew activists, political leaders and civil society groups. Actor Prakash Raj and YouTuber Dhruv Rathee joined the protest, alongside JNU student leader Aishe Ghosh, AISA president Neha Bora, and CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke. Organisers screened video testimonies from individuals who claimed they had been wrongly excluded from electoral rolls during the SIR exercise.
A People’s Tribunal has also been planned to hear grievances related to alleged voter deletions, followed by a symbolic “chappal protest”. The CJP and allied groups demanded that all deletions carried out during the revision be scrapped and that pre-SIR electoral rolls be restored.
INDIA bloc plans another round of protests
The agitation coincided with renewed mobilisation by INDIA bloc parties in Delhi. For the second straight day, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hosted alliance leaders for lunch, amid indications that another round of protests would follow. The meetings came after Wednesday’s dramatic showdown with police, when Opposition leaders attempted to reach Jantar Mantar for a sit-in demanding Kumar’s resignation.
The Delhi protest witnessed tense scenes, with opposition MPs clashing with security personnel after being stopped en route. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and several women leaders lay down on the road while holding copies of the Constitution, while Rahul Gandhi resisted attempts by police to detain him. On Thursday, Delhi Police registered an FIR against Rahul, Priyanka and several Congress workers, alleging assault on police personnel and obstruction of official duties during the protest. Police said 91 people, including MPs and senior leaders, had been detained.
Meanwhile, in Patna, INDIA bloc leaders led by Tejashwi Yadav took out an “Aakrosh March” against the SIR exercise. The march was halted near the office of the Chief Electoral Officer as protesters attempted to move towards Lok Bhavan. Several leaders were detained, while former CPI(ML) MLA Ajit Kushwaha reportedly fainted during the demonstration.
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Scroll below for Live updates.
Live Updates
- 8 Oct 2026 4:47 PM IST
Rahul, Kharge, Priyanka and others arrive at Raj Ghat
Congress leaders arrive at Raj Ghat.
- 8 Oct 2026 4:39 PM IST
Mamata Banerjee: May join CJP protest at Jantar Mantar on Oct 10
Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said she may participate in the Cockroach Janta Party-sponsored protest demanding the removal of Gyanesh Kumar as Chief Election Commissioner at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on October 10, but a final decision on this would be taken later.
Speaking to reporters at the NSC Bose International Airport in Kolkata before boarding a flight to Delhi to take part in the ongoing protests of the opposition INDIA bloc, Banerjee lashed out at the BJP and the Election Commission for the alleged SIR anomalies and electoral malpractices in Bengal.
“I may join the protest at Jantar Mantar scheduled for October 10, but nothing can be confirmed now. We have maintained a relationship with them (the CJP) and have extended our support, while any further decision regarding our participation will be taken later,” Banerjee said.
- 8 Oct 2026 3:52 PM IST
Kharge: Heading to Raj Ghat for peaceful protest
LoP in Rajya Sabha and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said, "We, the members of the INDIA alliance, are heading to the Gandhi Memorial to stage a peaceful sit-in protest. We will sit there and pray that the BJP government, specifically PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah be granted the wisdom to realise that their actions are not in the nation's interest. Whether it is the issue of vote theft, the rising inflation, the problems facing the youth, or any other crisis they have created, everything goes against the public interest. That is why we are going to the Gandhi Memorial to pray.
"We want to highlight that they are snatching away the freedom we secured, the freedom won for us by great leaders like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, and Vallabhbhai Patel and are making every effort to destroy it. They are taking away our right to vote. We are going there to pray that they be granted the wisdom to stop stripping us of the rights and freedoms—including the right to vote—that were secured for us by these great leaders. We will sit there and stage a protest," he added.
- 8 Oct 2026 3:46 PM IST
Rahul Gandhi attacks Modi, Shah, Gyanesh; says MPs not allowed to hold a peaceful protest
Around 300 MPs have been trying to hold a peaceful protest for the past 2 days; we're not being allowed, said Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi in Delhi.
"PM, Amit Shah, Mohan Bhagwat, and Gyanesh Kumar have hijacked the country through criminal conspiracy; they'll be brought to justice," he added.
- 8 Oct 2026 3:24 PM IST
Dhruv Rathee at Bengaluru protest: 'Vote chor, Gaddi chhod'
YouTuber Dhruv Rathee at a protest in Bengaluru. Rathee and the crowd chant "Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod" (Vote thief, leave the throne).
- 8 Oct 2026 2:57 PM IST
Murli Manohar Joshi takes a dig at the Modi govt and the CEC?
What BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi says about the simmering protests against CEC: "I have told you this much. I always say that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth. Lincoln said this almost 200 years ago. Now I say that government of the people, for the people and by the people shall not perish from the earth, provided the elections are fair, governments are accountable, the bureaucracy is transparent, the Opposition is responsive and responsible, and there is a clear-cut alternative programme. The whole thing has to be done within the ambit of the Constitution, and if the Constitution is violated, then the Supreme Court should look into it. That is the principle on which democracy should work."
- 8 Oct 2026 2:48 PM IST
Bengaluru protest simmers!
Cockroach Party's Saurav Das's cheeky post: 'Gyanu, it's done bro'
- 8 Oct 2026 2:32 PM IST
INDIA bloc MPs' lunch meeting: Rahul Gandhi arrives
Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi arrives for INDIA bloc MPs' lunch meeting in Delhi.
- 8 Oct 2026 2:28 PM IST
Dhruv Rathee: 'Have not come here for regime change'
"I have not come here for regime change," said YouTuber Dhruv Rathee during SIR protest in Bengaluru.
"Zero transparency, zero accountability from EC (Election Commission)," he alleged.
- 8 Oct 2026 2:25 PM IST
Congress MP Hooda: Our protest will continue
Congress MP Deepender Hooda said that the INDIA alliance's protest would continue. He alleged that the Modi government wants to muzzle the voices of the people.
"We wanted to go to the Election Commission, but we weren't allowed to. Yesterday, we wanted to protest at Jantar Mantar; again, we weren't allowed to do so. Those in power want to muzzle the voice of the people. Our protest will continue," he said.
