It looked as though the protests were winding down around noon on Tuesday (October 6, 2026), as buses packed with protesting parliamentarians trundled away from Akashvani Bhawan in the national capital after nearly two hours of sloganeering.
Only Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had another idea.
“This can’t end here,” Mr. Gandhi told his colleagues. “Where is Priyanka [Gandhi]? Where is Akhilesh [Yadav]?” he asked. Both leaders had been packed into buses by the police.
Many Congress parliamentarians, along with Priyanka Gandhi, got down from the buses they had been packed into. But the bus carrying Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, which also had Trinamool Congress’ Abhishek Banerjee, CPI(M)’s John Brittas and others, had already left the site.
Mr. Gandhi first proposed that the remaining group march to India Gate and tried walking back towards Parliament, away from the barricades, only to be told that all roads were blocked. So, he turned back.
Squeezed into Akashvani Bhawan
In front of Akashvani Bhawan, he spotted All India Radio staffers who had spent two hours standing on the parapet wall, clutching the grills that fenced the complex and watching the protest unfold. He waved at them and then, without any warning, waded into the crowd and headed for the narrow pedestrian gate of the complex. He squeezed his way into the premises.
A few Congress parliamentarians managed to follow. Others, including senior leaders K.C. Venugopal and Pawan Khera, were initially stopped at the gate and stood at the grills before the Delhi Police, after some discussion, allowed them to join Mr. Gandhi.
All the while, AIR employees and police personnel craned their necks from windows and the main gates of the building, watching their office turn into a protest site. As cameras turned inward, the police and senior AIR officials instructed staff members to go inside.
Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi being detained from the protest site at Akashvani Bhavan by Delhi Police during a sit-in protest staged by INDIA bloc MPs against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, in New Delhi on Tuesday, October 6, 2026. Photo credit: AICC/ANI
Congress workers at site
Around 2.30 p.m., a large group of Indian Youth Congress (IYC) and National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) activists descended on Akashvani Bhawan. Catching the heavily deployed police personnel by surprise, the activists charged at the iron gates, with many managing to run into the campus. The police reacted swiftly, slamming the gates shut, this time with the activists inside. Buses soon arrived to detain them.
One young activist clambered onto the roof of a police bus and waved an NSUI flag. For several minutes, he remained there before a Delhi Police officer climbed up behind him, snatched away the flag and pulled him down. The buses eventually cleared the premises of the activists.
Meanwhile, Mr. Gandhi and a small group of Congress leaders continued their sit-in under a banyan tree. Long past lunch hour, rolls were brought in by Mr. Gandhi’s office to satiate the hunger of protesters.
By evening, with Mr. Gandhi and the Congress leadership refusing to budge, more leaders joined in. Trinamool Congress leaders Derek O’Brien and Mahua Moitra, who had been bundled away by the police earlier in the day, returned to the site.
The drama continued well past sunset.
Leaders removed at night
Around 8 p.m., long after office hours had ended, the Delhi Police finally moved to clear the campus. Officers first removed the leaders gathered around Mr. Gandhi one by one. Finally, Mr. Gandhi himself was dragged towards a minibus. He resisted throughout, at one point even attempting to wriggle out through a window, while the Delhi Police personnel pleaded with him, cautioning him of hurting himself.
In videos later shared by the Congress, leaders detained at the Kingsway Camp police station could be seen raising slogans.
The protests also saw several ageing MPs put aside physical limitations. CPI(ML)’s Sudama Prasad, who has knee problems, walked all the way to Akashvani Bhawan. So did Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan (78), Trinamool’s Saugata Roy (79) and others. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge (84) sat on a chair surrounded by colleagues seated on the road. He remained there for more than an hour under the harsh sun, leaving only after he felt unwell.
Published – October 06, 2026 10:17 pm IST
