Section 163 orders near Jantar Mantar as security tightened after INDIA bloc MPs' protest at Akashvani Bhawan

Prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) have been imposed in the area around Jantar Mantar Road in Delhi. On Tuesday, MPs of the INDIA bloc staged a sit-in at Akashvani Bhawan against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Security has since been increased across the area. Congress leaders may agitate again on Wednesday.

MPs of the INDIA alliance, led by Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, had gathered in the Akashvani Bhawan complex, a few metres from the office of the Election Commission of India (ECI). Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal and MPs Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Pawan Khera and Imran Pratapgarhi were seen sitting under a tree there. Delhi Police later detained the MPs and took them to New Police Lines in Kingsway Camp.

Police said they had learnt through social media that INDIA bloc MPs would march from Parliament House to the Election Commission office at about 10:30 am on October 6, 2026. According to police, no application had been made to the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), New Delhi district, for permission for the march, so permission was not granted. Police said that, given the crowd and the apprehension that Section 163 orders would be violated in the New Delhi area, arrangements had been made to maintain law and order, regulate the movement of crowds and prevent any untoward incident.

Police said the march began at about 10:30 am. The protesters crossed the first barricade and reached the second one, near NITI Aayog. Police repeatedly announced the Section 163 restrictions and appealed to them to disperse peacefully. Police said the protesters nevertheless did not follow the instructions and stayed put.

Sources said the opposition leaders, trying to reach the Election Commission headquarters, about 300 metres away, pushed open the gates. According to sources, a PCR call was received from Akashvani Bhawan saying Rahul Gandhi had forcibly entered the premises.

Speaking to the media, Rahul Gandhi said: "300 MPs were stopped here and then made to sit here. The Election Commission is 50 yards away. They do not let us go there. I do not understand what the problem is. It is the Election Commission's job to conduct elections properly. 300 MPs want to meet Gyanesh Kumar and Gyanesh Kumar is scared. So I do not understand what is going on in the country. If representatives cannot meet at all, what is the meaning of democracy?"

Rahul Gandhi also said: "What has been done to our country is called treason, and no one will be spared. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Mohan Bhagwat and Gyanesh Kumar have ended the country's democracy. The country has been hijacked through 'vote chori'. No one will be spared, action will be taken against everyone."