Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday described the criminal cases filed against him as a "medal", as opposition MPs moved to Jantar Mantar to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. The protest follows a day of confrontation with Delhi Police and a closed door at the Election Commission, and it signals that the INDIA bloc intends to keep the pressure on well beyond a single sit-in.
"There are 45 FIRs against me, my goal is 100 FIRs. Every FIR is a medal for me," Gandhi said. The remark came as Delhi Police registered a fresh case against him and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, along with their supporters, for allegedly forcing their way into Akashvani Bhawan during the opposition's march against the CEC.
Track live updates from protests over CEC Gyanesh Kumar row
The march is the latest step in the campaign by the INDIA bloc (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) against the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Opposition parties allege that the exercise is stripping millions of genuine voters of their right to vote and that it forms part of a larger plan of "vote theft". The Election Commission has defended the SIR as a routine clean-up of voter lists, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has rejected the charge.
Deep Dive
What prompted the FIR against Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra during the protest?
Why are opposition MPs demanding the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar?
How did the Delhi Police respond to the opposition's protest march towards the Election Commission?
Gandhi said the protest began after the Election Commission refused to engage with elected representatives. "Members of Parliament wanted to meet the Election Commissioners yesterday, specifically, the three Election Commissioners. They refused to meet us. The Delhi Police stopped us and stated that we could not protest there," he said. The opposition says the refusal left MPs with no institutional route to raise their concerns.
{{/usCountry}}Gandhi said the protest began after the Election Commission refused to engage with elected representatives. "Members of Parliament wanted to meet the Election Commissioners yesterday, specifically, the three Election Commissioners. They refused to meet us. The Delhi Police stopped us and stated that we could not protest there," he said. The opposition says the refusal left MPs with no institutional route to raise their concerns.
{{/usCountry}}He then set out what the opposition will do on Wednesday and what it wants from the poll body. "Today, we intend to go to the designated protest site, Jantar Mantar, sit there, and declare to the nation that, for us, Mr. Gyanesh Kumar is not a legitimate Election Commissioner of this country," Gandhi said. The declaration goes beyond a policy objection and challenges the standing of the man who heads the commission.
Gandhi also widened the charge to the top of the government and the Sangh leadership. "Modi ji, Amit Shah ji, Mohan Bhagwat, and Gyanesh Kumar have destroyed the country's democracy," he said, adding that those responsible are traitors and that action will be taken against them. "Gyanesh Kumar will have to resign," he said, leaving no room for a negotiated outcome.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said every INDIA alliance partner will join the demonstration and that the protest will continue until the demand is met. "Whatever the Election Commission is doing, Narendra Modi is behind it. That means Modi himself is trying to destroy democracy," Kharge said. He added that party members want to go to the people and tell them that their rights are being snatched away.
Kharge rejected the idea that legal cases can slow the campaign. "No matter how many cases are filed against us to protect the rights of the people, we will not be afraid or stop," he said. The statement was aimed at both the police action in the capital and the wider message that cases against opposition leaders will not change their course.
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Congress leader Pawan Khera said the move to Jantar Mantar was forced on the opposition. "Since Delhi Police under Amit Shah is not allowing us to protest anywhere in the capital, all buses carrying MPs of opposition parties are now moving to Jantar Mantar, the designated spot for peaceful protests," Khera said. The opposition presents the shift as proof that it was denied space at every other location.
Khera grounded the argument in the Constitution. "Article 19 gives us our Constitutional right for democratic protest," he said. Delhi Police reports to the Union Home Ministry headed by Shah, which is why opposition leaders direct their criticism of the force at him, and why they describe the FIRs as political rather than routine.
Allies in the bloc echoed that line. Reacting to the Akashvani Bhawan FIR, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha said the cases will not achieve what the government expects. "Millions of FIRs will be registered... nothing is going to happen. They are going to go and go very badly," Jha said. His comment showed that the response to police action is being shared across parties and not only within the Congress.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh offered the sharpest political reading. He said Gandhi has for nearly two years exposed a conspiracy of vote theft through factual evidence, which he alleged is a plot between the Prime Minister and the Home Minister on one side and the CEC on the other. He said the Leader of the Opposition has now chosen the path of satyagraha to bring the issue before the country.
"Through this utterly unjust process of SIR, Shahenshah Instigated Removal, the constitutional right to vote has been stripped from millions of genuine voters," Ramesh said. He argued that the FIRs show nervousness in the government. "This conspiratorial duo is rattled and desperate. The writing on the wall is clear," he said, pointing to what he called the direction of the coming times.
The numbers explain the message behind Gandhi's remark. On his own count, 45 FIRs leave him less than halfway to his stated goal, and 55 more cases are needed to reach 100. By calling each case a medal, the Congress leader is trying to turn every legal action into a symbol of resistance, and to make the number itself a talking point in the argument over the SIR.
The Election Commission and the BJP have consistently denied wrongdoing in the SIR process, and Delhi Police has not detailed the sections invoked in the Akashvani Bhawan FIR in the statements issued so far. Their reactions to Wednesday's protest and to Gandhi's demand for Kumar's resignation will be closely watched in the following days.
Also Read | Supreme Court issues notice to Centre, poll panel over CEC Gyanesh Kumar's functioning; no interim order
For the opposition, the pattern is now complete. Leaders across the INDIA bloc argue that the government, the poll body and the Delhi Police are working in step to shield Gyanesh Kumar and to restrict both the right to vote and the right to protest, citing the FIRs, the closed doors at the Election Commission and the blocked march routes. The government and the Election Commission reject that reading and maintain that the SIR is lawful and routine. With both sides dug in, Jantar Mantar will be the stage where the argument over the vote, and over who gets to speak for it, plays out in the coming days.