The march to ECI, called by the Delhi Coordination Committee of People Against SIR — a people’s collective — started near Gole Dak Khana, at the intersection of Kalibari Marg and Bhai Vir Singh Marg.

Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS) and the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) have extended their support to the protest, with activists from Delhi, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh participating as well.

Security was tightened near Bangla Sahib Gurudwara, with Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel deployed in large numbers ahead of the march.

The organisers have appealed to farmers, workers, youth, women and people from different sections of society to join the march carrying the national flag.

-PTI

Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi, along with INDIA bloc MPs at Rajghat as the Opposition steps protests against CEC Gyanesh Kumar, on October 8, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
Shashi Shekhar Kashyap

The INDIA bloc will continue its protest on Friday (October 9, 2026) and is likely to march towards Rashtrapati Bhavan after assembling at Parliament House in the morning. Senior leaders, including Mamata Banerjee, may join the march, even though President Droupadi Murmu has not yet given an appointment. Following two days of face-offs with the Delhi Police, the Opposition leaders were allowed to hold a peaceful protest at Rajghat on Thursday (October 8, 2026) without being prevented from reaching there.

Also read | Opposition leaders ‘pray’ at Rajghat for government to ‘get wisdom’ to remove CEC

Ahead of the October 10 protest in Delhi, several groups, including the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), on Thursday (October 8, 2026) alleged that protesters were being picked up from across the country. CJP co-convener Ashutosh Ranka said Deepak Baliyan, the organisation’s co-in-charge, had been detained in Rajasthan. He claimed that thousands of volunteers had been detained in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) also alleged that police personnel had been visiting activists’ homes and intimidating their families to prevent them from travelling to Delhi.

Analysis | The Rahul Gandhi show and the Congress’s INDIA bloc dilemma

In Delhi, the police has been holding meetings in colleges, universities, and PG accommodations to ask students and citizens not to join the protest. Officials said that joining the unsanctioned protest would disrupt law and order in the New Delhi area. Police officials visited local mosques and market places in Old Delhi and announced that Section 163 of BNSS is in place in the New Delhi area, requesting citizens to not participate in the protest.

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Police have booked five Samajwadi Party workers and some unidentified people for allegedly protesting against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, raising slogans, burning his effigy and blocking a road here, officials said on Wednesday (October 7, 2026).

Police alleged that the protesters raised slogans and made objectionable remarks against Kumar without permission from the competent authority. They also gathered on the main road, causing a traffic jam and inconvenience to commuters, schoolchildren, women, traders and motorists.

On October 6, information was received that SP workers were marching from under the Bholepur overbridge towards Ambedkar Tiraha, raising slogans against the CEC, police said.

– PTI

The Delhi Police on Monday (October 5, 2026) registered an FIR against a woman journalist who has accused Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Vivek Bhagat of sexual harassment and manhandling, along with 16 other protesters, shortly after they were detained for staging a protest Parliament Street police station demanding registration of a case against the officer.

The Delhi government, meanwhile, clarified that the October 5 order assigning current duty charge of Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police to 12 DANIPS officers was based on a proposal initiated on August 25, well before the present allegations. Earlier in the day, the accused official, an Assistant Commissioner of police rank officer, was promoted to the rank of Additional Deputy Commissioner of police on Monday in an order signed by the Deputy Secretary (Home) Ramesh Kumar.

Later, a Government order stated that the assignment was a temporary arrangement carrying no financial benefit and did not confer the statutory powers of a regular incumbent. ACP Vivek Bhagat subsequently requested that he not be given the current duty charge until a full enquiry into the allegations of harassment of women journalists was completed. The order has been modified accordingly, with the charge to be assigned to the remaining 11 officers.

The FIR was registered by the Parliament Street police station after the protesters had spent a second consecutive night outside the station demanding registration of a case against ACP Bhagat. The 17 protesters were detained on Monday (October 5, 2026) morning and initially taken to the Delhi Cantonment police station before being taken to different police stations in the New Delhi district.

Later in the night, following a brief period of arrest, all 17 protesters were granted conditional bail.

Court directs report on custodial torture allegations

A Patiala House court granted bail to all 17 accused in the case, observing that although the allegations against them were “serious in nature”, all the offences invoked against them, except Sections 132 and 190 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, were bailable. The court noted that Section 132, which relates to assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of duty, carries a maximum punishment of two years, as per the bail order seen by The Hindu. It also noted that the accused were young and did not appear to be habitual offenders.

The court, however, also took note of allegations of custodial assault made by two of the accused. According to the order, accused Dharmender and Samarth alleged that they had been beaten inside Parliament Street police station after being detained, while Sheikh Yunus alleged that he was injured after being pushed during the protest. The court noted that medical reports recorded abrasions, tenderness, contusions and swelling in some of the accused. It directed that a report be called from the DCP, New Delhi, regarding the allegations of custodial torture and ordered that relevant CCTV footage from Parliament Street police station be preserved.

The police, in opposing bail, alleged that the protesters had formed an unlawful assembly despite prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, obstructed public space, manhandled police personnel, including a woman officer, and assaulted them, resulting in injuries to one officer. The police also alleged that the protesters broke the window and rear-side glass of the bus in which they were being taken, causing damage to public property. These allegations were recorded by the court as the investigating officer’s submissions and were not findings of guilt.

While granting bail, the court said that a person has a right to protest peacefully, but assaulting police officials on duty cannot be permitted under the garb of a peaceful protest. At the same time, it held that, considering the nature of the offences, the young age of the accused and the fact that they did not appear to be habitual offenders, there was no justification for keeping them in judicial custody. The accused were granted bail on a bond of ₹15,000 each with one surety of a like amount, subject to conditions including not tampering with evidence or influencing witnesses and appearing before the court on each date of hearing.

The two women journalists were released from Mandir Marg police station on Monday evening, while the remaining 15 protesters were released later.

This comes at a time when the woman journalist had been seeking an FIR against ACP Vivek Bhagat after alleging that he sexually harassed and shoved her while she was covering a protest demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on October 3. She has said the alleged incident occurred while she was recording the detention of All India Students’ Association president Neha Bora.

She had also been detained during the October 4 protest and was detained again on Monday (October 5, 2026) morning.

The Crime Branch, to which three complaints alleging sexual harassment and manhandling by police personnel were transferred on Sunday (October 4, 2026), had not registered an FIR in any of the cases by Monday (October 5, 2026) evening, nearly 48 hours after the alleged incidents.

On Sunday (October 4, 2026), the Delhi Police said three women journalists had submitted complaints alleging sexual harassment and manhandling by police officers during the October 3 protest. The complaints were transferred to the Crime Branch for a “fair and impartial enquiry”.

The complainant had spent several hours at the Parliament Street police station on Sunday (October 4, 2026) seeking registration of an FIR.

The police have maintained that the concerned personnel were performing law and order duties during the protest. An official told The Hindu that registering cases against police personnel for actions taken in the course of such duties could “deter them from working”.

A New Delhi police official had also told The Hindu on Sunday (October 4, 2026) that there was no evidence to substantiate the allegation and that footage from the many cameras present at the protest should establish whether the incident had occurred.

The developments have drawn political and civil society reactions. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in a post on X, alleged that women protesters and journalists had been subjected to mistreatment by the Delhi Police during the recent protests and questioned the absence of an FIR on the journalist’s complaint.

“What’s happening in Delhi right now follows a single pattern: silence any woman who dares to ask questions,” Mr. Gandhi said, alleging that female protesters had complained of misbehaviour by male police officers and that cameras had been snatched from women journalists.

He also referred to recent accounts by journalists Shaheen and Nafisa of alleged violence and mistreatment inside the Saket police station and demanded that CCTV footage from the station be made public and action be taken against police personnel found guilty.

Legal affairs head of the Cockroach Janta Party Ratna Singh alleged that the detainees were assaulted and “brutally beaten” by the police.

Advocate Supantha Sinha of the Association for Indian Labour and Administrative Justice (AILAJ), who was on the ground to coordinate the legal response, alleged that the detainees were assaulted during their detention and subsequently taken to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital for medical examination and medico-legal certificates.

The continuing protests have also brought wider complaints from women protesters about their treatment during the demonstrations from October 2. Several women, including students, have alleged sexual harassment and manhandling by police personnel during their detention.

Published – October 05, 2026 10:43 am IST

The Delhi Congress on Sunday (October 4, 2026) announced that constituent parties of the INDIA bloc in the national capital will stage a protest outside the office of Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ashok Kumar at Kashmere Gate on October 7, seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged flaws in the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. File
| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

Hitting out at the Congress for targeting the Election Commission, senior BJP leader Smriti Irani on Tuesday (September 29, 2026) accused the main Opposition party of attempting to undermine the country’s electoral system after failing to get the support of people within the current democratic framework.

Speaking to reporters at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, Ms. Irani alleged that the Congress party, which was established “to preserve the British Empire”, is today attacking the Election Commission of India. “There could be nothing more shameful than this,” she said.

The reaction came after a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting chaired by party president Mallikarjun Kharge demanded the immediate removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, suspension of the SIR, restoration of more than 13 crore names struck off from the electoral rolls and the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “match-fixing” polls. Ms. Irani questioned why the Congress leadership was insisting on retaining deceased individuals and duplicate names in the electoral rolls.

Accusing the Opposition party of duplicity, Ms. Irani asked if the Congress leadership is giving a clean chit to the EC in States such as Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala and Karnataka, where the BJP is not in power. – PTI

Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

New Delhi:

Gyanesh Kumar assumed charge Wednesday morning as the new Chief Election Commissioner.

Mr Kumar replaces Rajiv Kumar in the role and will oversee the conduct of nearly two-dozen elections, state and presidential, over the course of his four-year term. The new CEC is an ex-IAS officer from the Kerala cadre, and earlier served in the Home Ministry, under current Home Minister Amit Shah. Among his key responsibilities were the drafting of a bill that scrapped Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

In his first remarks after taking charge, Mr Kumar said, “The first step for nation-building is voting. Therefore, every citizen of India who has completed 18 years of age should become an elector and should always vote. The Election Commission was, is, and will always be with the voters.”

Mr Kumar’s appointment – the notification was issued late last night – was made amid controversy after Rahul Gandhi and the Congress objected to his nomination.

Mr Gandhi is part of a three-member panel that was tasked with picking the new CEC, but the Congress leader submitted a dissent note instead, objecting to Gyanesh Kumar’s nomination despite a challenge – to the constitution of the panel – that is pending in the Supreme Court.

READ | Gyanesh Kumar Appointed New Chief Election Commissioner

The top court will hear those arguments later today.

In essence, the contention is the committee – which at present consists of the Prime Minister, a member of the union cabinet (to be nominated by the PM), and the Leader of the Opposition – is biased towards the ruling party, and impinges on the Election Commission’s neutrality.

NDTV Explains | Why Gyanesh Kumar’s Pick As Poll Chief Sparked Row

On Tuesday Mr Gandhi posted a sharp attack on X, in which he slammed the centre’s “midnight decision” to appoint Gyanesh Kumar as the next CEC, calling his nomination a ‘violation of the Supreme Court order (by) removing the Chief Justice of India from the selection committee”.

READ | “Midnight Decision Disrespectful”: Rahul Gandhi Note On Poll Chief Selection

“During the meeting of the committee to select the next (Chief) Election Commissioner, I presented a dissent note to the PM and HM that stated: ‘The most fundamental aspect of an independent Election Commission… free from executive interference… is the process of choosing the Election Commissioner and Chief Election Commissioner,” Mr Gandhi had said.

During the meeting of the committee to select the next Election Commissioner, I presented a dissent note to the PM and HM, that stated: The most fundamental aspect of an independent Election Commission free from executive interference is the process of choosing the Election… pic.twitter.com/JeL9WSfq3X

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 18, 2025

“By violating the Supreme Court order and removing the Chief Justice of India from the committee, the Modi government has exacerbated the concerns of hundreds of millions of voters over the integrity of our electoral process,” Mr Gandhi said on X.

READ | All About Gyanesh Kumar, New Chief Election Commissioner

The reference was to an earlier order by the Supreme Court that said the PM, the LoP and the Chief Justice of India should be on the selection committee. To circumvent that ruling the central government later rushed through a bill to replace the Chief Justice.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has announced that Dr Vivek Joshi took office this morning as the new third member of the panel. Dr Joshi is a 1989-batch IAS officer from the Haryana cadre.

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