Congress Miffed Over Detention Of INDIA Bloc MPs Who Wanted To Meet ECI
Congress leaders say Opposition’s fight is to restore citizen’s right to vote and wonders why the government does not want them to meet the CEC.
Published : August 11, 2025 at 7:52 PM IST
New Delhi: Angry over the alleged rough handling of INDIA bloc MPs, including Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress leaders said police could detain them but the nationwide agitation against ‘vote theft’ would not stop.
The INDIA bloc has been agitating inside and outside the Parliament during the ongoing monsoon session that started from July 21, demanding a discussion on the controversial voter list revision in poll-bound Bihar but the NDA government had not agreed to the same.
To scale up their protest, the INDIA bloc had decided that around 300 Opposition MPs will march to the Election Commission of India (ECI) office, around 1 km from the Parliament, on August 11. The INDIA bloc had also sought an appointment with the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) to share its concerns over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar and other related issues.
The march was to start at 11.30 am on Monday but the EC gave an appointment to the INDIA bloc at 12 pm, which surprised the Opposition. Further, the ECI had wanted only 30 Opposition MPs to visit the poll panel office but the INDIA bloc wanted it to be a collective meeting where representatives from various parties could share their views with the election body and not merely a conclave of small group.
As the Opposition lawmakers started marching peacefully towards the ECI office from the Parliament building, high drama ensued as they were stopped and detained by the police, which had put up iron barricades along the road.
LoP Rahul Gandhi and Congress Lok Sabha MP KC Venugopal had an argument with the police officials while Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Akhilesh Yadav jumped over the barricades in an act of defiance. The women lawmakers, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra of the Congress, Dimple Yadav of the Samajwadi Party and Mahua Moitra of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) among others squatted on the road in protest against "police highhandedness".
Congress MP Sanjana Jatav sustained some injuries during the protest and was taken to the RML hospital while TMC MPs Mahua Moitra and Mitali Bag fainted due to the hot and humid weather. As SP MP Priya Saroj tried to hold Mitali Bag, Rahul Gandhi rushed to the spot and ensured she was taken to the hospital in his car.
The detained lawmakers were later taken to the nearby Parliament street police station in buses and were released after a few hours.
The INDIA bloc leaders slammed the Modi government for trying to block their meeting with the poll panel and wondered why the Centre was worried over the issue of ‘vote theft’.
“This is not a Rahul Gandhi vs Narendra Modi fight. This is about the individual’s right to vote which is the basis of our democracy and has been guaranteed by the Constitution. This right of one man one vote reflects the idea that India is under threat as revealed by our leader. A clean voter list is the basis of a free and fair election. If the elections are compromised, democracy will be in danger. They can detain Rahul Gandhi but they cannot detain the truth or arrest the movement he has ignited. The nationwide agitation against vote theft will not stop. In fact, it is going to become a movement,” AICC functionary BM Sandeep told ETV Bharat.
“INDIA bloc will never allow the citizen’s vote to be stolen. Our protests will continue until the ECI stops the SIR and clearly answers the questions raised by Rahul Gandhi. Vote theft is the biggest crisis our democracy faces today. The government cannot face the truth. Otherwise, why did they not want the Opposition to meet the EC?” he questioned.
The plan for the nationwide movement against the alleged irregularities in the voter list across the country was to be discussed by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge along with all in-charges of states on August 11 but the strategy session will now be held on August 12, said party insiders.
However, the dinner that Kharge was to host for the INDIA bloc MPs on August 11 evening would go on as scheduled.
According to Congress insiders, while the Bihar SIR issue had sown the seeds of suspicion among the bloc members, Rahul Gandhi’s vote theft revelations had forced the Opposition parties to come together and protest the alleged manipulation of the voter lists benefitting the BJP.
According to Congress insiders, the bloc would together protest against the 'vote theft' in the coming days. The Congress managers were further miffed, saying the EC officials of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Haryana had sought affidavits from him over the vote theft charges made by the LoP on August 7. The insiders said that Rahul is unlikely to submit any affidavit as he only analysed data of the EC and pointed out the irregularities. They said it was for the ECI to now probe or brush aside the charges at its own peril.
“The right to vote is the foundation of democracy. This right was given by Congress and the BJP is snatching this right away. Therefore, the Congress has taken to the streets. People's LoP Rahul Gandhi has caught this vote theft. Therefore, the Opposition wanted to urge the ECI to provide soft copy of all poll data so the voters and the political parties can analyse the same. That will restore the credibility of the poll panel,” AICC functionary Chandan Yadav told ETV Bharat.
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