Rahul Gandhi detained again as opposition's EC protest over voter rolls escalates
Indian police detained opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and several lawmakers for the third time in two days on Wednesday as they launched an unannounced protest in New Delhi, demanding the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner over the controversial revision of voter lists.
Around 260 people were reportedly detained after opposition leaders climbed barricades and staged an eight-hour sit-in near Akashvani Bhawan, with police saying the march toward the Election Commission office had no permission.
The protest is the sharpest escalation yet in the weeks-long fight over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, which the opposition alleges is being used to delete genuine voters — a charge sharpened by the FIR against a BJP booth agent in Hyderabad over false Form-7 deletions.
The row shows no sign of cooling: the opposition has made the revision its single loudest political theme, linking Delhi's street politics to legal battles playing out in the Supreme Court.