Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has been arrested in Delhi. The Delhi police stopped leaders of the I.N.D.I.A bloc who planned to hold a rally at the Election Commission of India (ECI) office. Several MPs who arrived in the capital to join the protest were taken into custody.
Rahul Gandhi and his associates were kept inside a bus, preventing them from proceeding with the rally. This comes after the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar. Rahul Gandhi strongly criticised the Centre and the Modi government over this issue.
Earlier reports said Rahul Gandhi presented data showing names removed from Bihar’s voters list ahead of the November elections. Around 65 lakh names, mostly Muslims and migrants living in Bihar, were reportedly missing from the list.
He is seeking support by saying the voices of minorities matter and removing their names would harm India’s secular values.
The Election Commission, however, defended its stance. It told the Supreme Court it need not share a separate list of deleted names from Bihar’s draft electoral rolls. The ECI also said it was not legally required to explain why certain names were excluded.
The ECI cited the Representation of the People Act (1950) and the Registration of Electoral Rules (1960). According to these laws, the Commission only needs to publish a draft roll for claims and objections, not a deletion list.
The ECI clarified that the draft roll is not the final electoral roll. Names can be added later following proper procedures. It also suggested that deletions could be due to non-submission of forms or errors in the home-to-home data collection.
The period for claims is from August 1 to September 1, 2025.
