Indian police on Monday detained Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Gandhi, and several senior opposition MPs as they marched in New Delhi against a controversial revision of Bihar's electoral rolls, local media reported.
The protest, led by a united opposition, was triggered by the Election Commission of India's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, which requires voters in Bihar state to present citizenship proof by July 25 — a move critics say could disenfranchise minorities ahead of state polls.
According to the Press Trust of India (PTI), lawmakers from Congress, Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Shiv Sena (UBT) and other parties began marching from Parliament to the Election Commission headquarters but were stopped halfway near Transport Bhawan.
Some MPs climbed barricades, chanting slogans and holding placards accusing authorities of "vote theft" and calling the SIR the "murder of democracy".
Rahul Gandhi posted on X after his detention: "This fight is not political — it is to protect democracy, the Constitution, and the right to one person, one vote."
Opposition leaders have repeatedly demanded that the SIR be rolled back, alleging it is designed to suppress votes.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh earlier wrote to the Election Commission seeking a meeting to discuss the Bihar exercise and its possible expansion to other states, calling it a matter of "the highest tradition of parliamentary democracy".
The protests come amid a parliamentary deadlock since the Monsoon session began on July 21, with repeated disruptions over the SIR issue and minimal legislative work completed.
A new rule known as the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) was introduced just four months ahead of state elections, aiming to tackle the massive challenge of verifying voter identities in one of India's most densely populated states.
In Bihar—India’s poorest state—only 70 percent of births are officially registered, and just 2 percent of people have passports. As a result, millions lack the documentation needed to prove their citizenship and exercise their right to vote. Critics argue that questioning citizenship while excluding key documents like the Aadhar national ID may violate constitutional rights.
The Election Commission of India, however, defends the initiative as a necessary and constitutional effort to clean up voter rolls, with similar revisions likely to be implemented nationwide.
