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Indian police briefly detained opposition leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday during a protest march demanding the resignation of the country’s election chief over a large-scale revision of voter lists.
Gandhi, a senior leader of the main opposition Congress Party, was seen standing on a police barricade and waving the national flag before officers detained him along with other lawmakers. They were released shortly afterwards.
The revision of voter lists has drawn criticism over alleged irregularities in the decision-making process, with opposition politicians accusing the Election Commission of acting at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Critics have also alleged that the exercise has disproportionately affected marginalised and minority communities, particularly Muslims.
The Election Commission has rejected allegations of wrongdoing, saying the revision is aimed at ensuring the accuracy and integrity of electoral rolls.
On Tuesday, opposition lawmakers began marching from Parliament towards the commission’s headquarters but were stopped by a heavy police presence.
Gandhi and his sister, Congress lawmaker Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, later camped inside the offices of the public broadcaster adjacent to the Election Commission.
“The country has been hijacked by Narendra Modi through vote theft,” Gandhi told reporters from behind the iron gates of the building.
“What has been done to our country is called treason. Nobody is going to escape.”
The BJP defended the revision drive, accusing the Congress of seeking to replace the government with Gandhi.
“Some opposition parties, particularly the Congress, are making a concerted effort to change the government and install Rahul Gandhi in power,” BJP spokesman Sambit Patra told reporters.
“They are deliberately attacking India’s democracy and constitutional institutions.”
The protest is part of a wider opposition campaign against the revision of electoral rolls, which was reignited by a report published last month by The Indian Express.
The report said two of the Election Commission’s three members had formally objected at least 14 times to key decisions linked to the revision, while the names of 130 million citizens had been deleted since the exercise began in 2025.
Protests began on Friday, with demonstrators demanding that Election Commission chief Gyanesh Kumar step down.
“Gyanesh, it’s done, bro,” read placards at Tuesday’s protest, alongside signs alleging electoral manipulation.
Opposition leaders called for greater transparency, warning that changes to voter rolls could disenfranchise eligible voters.
Kumar has not publicly commented on the allegations.
The Election Commission says the revision is intended to identify fraudulently registered voters and prevent “foreign illegal immigrants” from voting.
The youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a satirical political movement that emerged online in May and later succeeded in a campaign to oust the then education minister, has called for “mass mobilisation” in the capital on Saturday.
Major student groups aligned with left-wing parties have also said they would join Saturday’s protest.
India’s Supreme Court on Monday ordered the government and the Election Commission to explain decisions linked to the revision exercise. Another hearing is expected next week.