Rahul Gandhi began Monday with a claim about Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar being ‘in contact’ with him and a scathing attack on the government over the siege-like situation in Delhi over the weekend. The weekend situation involved a small army of police and paramilitary personnel occupying central districts and the detention (illegally, many have argued) of over 7,000 people, including journalists and opposition politicians, all to crush protests led by the Abhijeet Dipke-founded Cockroach Janta Party and the Neha Bora-led All India Students’ Association that demand the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar.
“People are being stopped from reaching Delhi. Trains, buses are being stopped. Delhi has been converted into a fortress. Why is Delhi in jail?” he raged, before he was to lead a march to the Supreme Court to meet Chief Justice Surya Kant.
Meeting the Chief Justice, however, is unlikely; he has refused a sit-down with Opposition leaders, declaring ‘the politics of the ongoing protests… should not impede its functioning (i.e., the court’s) or the movement of lawyers and litigants’.
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Gandhi also implied the CEC had been in touch with him and urged him to turn ‘approver’, i.e., testify against the government. “You might even be forgiven. You may have made the mistake but you are not the mind behind the mistake.”
“Why is CEC Gyanesh Kumar not giving his resignation? Opposition leaders were detained for exercising their right to protest. This happened because we have asked the same question as two Election Commissioners asked,” Gandhi said, referring to The Indian Express investigation from last month that led to these protests. The Express found two of the poll panel’s three commissioners – Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi – objected 14 times in 10 months against Election Commission decisions relating to the SIR, or voter roll revision.
“We know Gyanesh Kumar has not been able to sleep at night. You will not be spared as CEC. Lakhs of people are asking you questions and they won’t stop.”
‘200 people from Modi government in touch with us’
Gandhi also claimed 200 Modi government officers are in touch with the Congress-led INDIA bloc. “Until the Constitution is not upheld and the election system is not fixed, the youth won’t stop. This is our fight to save the Constitution,” he said.
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‘No parallel protests’, says Gandhi
Gandhi also said ‘all protests (against Kumar) are part of just one protest.’
“We do not care which party or formation you come from, it is one protest. There are no parallel protests,” he said, in response to questions about apparently concurrent stirs in the city – the political one led by the INDIA bloc and the students-CJP protest.
Police detain protesters during a rally demanding the resignation of the election chief Gyanesh Kumar, at Connaught Place in Delhi on Sunday, Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav.111026
The Congress leader also urged the people to stand with those who on the streets. “If you can’t come for some reason, when we are there on our way to the Supreme Court, show us solidarity. That you stand with the Constitution. You should tell the country you are against what is happening… Go in a closed room and speak and say that you’ll save the Constitution.”
‘Female protesters targeted’
Gandhi also highlighted instances of women and girls being targeted by the police and other security personnel, and played videos of such assaults. Clips and photographs of women being wrestled to the ground have been widely circulated online, even as Delhi Police insists no such actions were taken by members of the force.
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Police personnel detain protestors amid continued rally calls by the CJP demanding the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar in Delhi, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (PTI Photo)
However, protesters have reported – and videos show – men and women in uniform assaulting female protesters, and even instances of men allegedly from right-wing organisations attacking women under the protection of the cops.
Must Read | As cameras roll, police close in on wrong Neha Bora
“A narrative of fear is being framed… that India’s youth is scared of Modi’s police.”
Anti-Gyanesh Kumar protests
The protests that have erupted – and carry with it a deep-seated fury against the Election Commission chief and the Narendra Modi government over allegations of voter fraud – across the country.
Protests led by Gandhi, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and the Congress-fronted INDIA opposition bloc roiled Delhi for three consecutive days last week.
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Over the weekend the CJP and AISA took up the baton, staging powerful rallies at various spots in Delhi. AISA made headlines after a creative re-framing of protest mechanics to counter the government’s security chokehold, holding ‘flash protests’ and playing cat-and-mouse with Delhi Police, with Bora herself as the bait.