Tensions flare outside ECI headquarters as Congress workers try to enter Nirvachan Sadan

The attempt to breach the poll body's gates triggered sharp scuffles with security personnel, even as Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, and other senior parliamentarians staged a sit-in demonstration inside the nearby Akashvani complex, barely 100 metres away.

Hitting out at the heavy-handed police deployment blocking the opposition leadership from handing over a formal memorandum, Congress leader Pawan Khera said the government was gripped by fear.

"The Election Commission is right next door, but they are not allowing the country's Leader of the Opposition to go; he has been stopped. So you can see, Rahul Gandhi ji, Priyanka Gandhi ji, and all of us are sitting here on a dharna inside Akashvani. The Election Commission is hardly 100 meters from here," Khera told reporters.

Sharpening his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Khera added, "The Leader of the Opposition wants to go there and submit his memorandum, but he is being stopped, and everyone is being stopped very ruthlessly. This is the condition of this country's democracy in the national capital. We understand that Narendra Modi is scared, and he should be; given the kind of misdeeds they have committed, they should be afraidfear is justified."

Visuals from the spot showed Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and several senior INDIA bloc parliamentarians sitting inside Akashvani Bhavan premises surrounded by heavy police deployment and barricades preventing their forward movement to Nirvachan Sadan.

On the sidelines, speaking during the massive protest march, Congress MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa directly targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, alleging that irregularities in the electoral process were being executed at the behest of the ruling dispensation.

"We should demand the resignation of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, at whose behest these wrongdoings are taking place. If the decision within the Election Commission is to be taken by just one person, then why were two other individuals appointed? The system should be scrapped," Randhawa told ANI.

Echoing similar concerns, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Sudhakar Singh asserted that the ongoing agitation transcends political boundaries and reflects widespread public discontent over the integrity of democratic institutions.

"It is not just the INDIA alliance; sensible voters across the country are united today. This is a crucial fight to save democracy and protect the Constitution," Singh stated.

Speaking to ANI, Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Rajeev Kumar Rai also hit out at the poll watchdog, stating that the agitation reflects the anger of common citizens.

"The people of the nation have come forward against the Election Commission of India," Rai said, underscoring the Opposition's claim of mounting public distrust in the poll body.

Announcing that the Opposition would broaden its agitation against the Election Commission by taking demonstrations down to the grassroots, Congress leader Sukhdeo Bhagat added, "We are protesting in a democratic manner, and we will also stage protests at the district level. In a democracy, the people are supreme, and the public has now realised that this government was formed by stealing the mandate."

The statements came as police personnel stopped hundreds of protesting INDIA bloc MPs near the NITI Aayog office while they were marching towards Nirvachan Sadan to demand transparency in the electoral rolls and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.

Earlier in the day, tensions flared along the high-security corridor as MPs climbed police barricades and several senior leaders, including Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal, were taken into custody. (ANI)