On Monday, August 11, 2025, several opposition MPs, including Leaders of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, staged a protest march from Parliament House to the Election Commission office in Delhi against the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar and alleged “vote theft.” However, the march turned dramatic when police blocked their way with barricades, stopping them midway and detaining them.
The MPs accused the Election Commission of enabling poll fraud. As police stopped them, many MPs sat on the road shouting slogans. Some, including TMC’s Mahua Moitra and Congress leaders Sanjana Jatav and Jothimani, climbed over the barricades while raising slogans. They, along with others, were taken away in police buses to the Parliament Street Police Station.
Police officials said that more than 30 MPs were detained, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, and TMC’s Sagarika Ghose. They explained that the EC had only allowed 30 MPs to enter its premises, but the protesters came in much larger numbers. They also said that no prior permission had been sought for the protest march.
“The MPs have been informed that only 30 MPs are allowed to go to the Election Commission. We will take them there once we get their names from the EC,” a senior police officer said.
All detained MPs were released after about two hours. Later in the evening, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge planned to host the MPs for a dinner meeting to discuss a joint strategy on the alleged electoral fraud.
Rahul Gandhi criticized the restrictions, saying the government was “trying to silence the opposition and hide the truth from the people.” Kharge also called the detentions “undemocratic” and claimed the protest was necessary to “protect the integrity of elections in Bihar.”
