Published Oct 09, 2026 | 11:47 AM ⚊ Updated Oct 09, 2026 | 11:54 AM
Rahul Gandhi has moved on from press conferences in closed rooms and questions in Parliament to protests on the streets. (Pic: @INCIndia/X)
Synopsis: When cameras in Parliament focus on the Speaker and Chairman rather than on Opposition MPs who rise to speak, when microphones are switched off to prevent them from being heard, when their speeches are removed from Parliament records, and when neither the Prime Minister nor the Home Minister answer questions in Parliament and refuse to be accountable, the only choice for the Opposition is to take the fight to where the common citizen can see, hear, and participate. Rahul Gandhi has risen to the occasion.
When Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, alleged “vote theft” at a press conference inside a Congress office last year, several leaders in his own alliance didn’t see it as serious or impactful.
Now, as skeletons tumble out of the Election Commission of India (ECI)’s closet and anger grows against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, Rahul Gandhi has moved from press conferences to fighting it out on India’s streets.
“Where is the Congress? Where is India’s Opposition?” has been a favourite catchphrase of political analysts, TV channels, journalists and even progressive liberal activists for years. For a long time, it has been a stick to beat the Congress for apparently being a “failed opposition”, “unable to take on a mighty BJP”. That criticism has often been centred on Rahul Gandhi long before he became the Leader of the Opposition.
The police crackdown hasn’t deterred the INDIA bloc from protesting.
He is now leading the Opposition’s full-throttle protest against the Narendra Modi government and what the Opposition deems is a “compromised Election Commission of India” led by Gyanesh Kumar. Congress, under Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge—leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, respectively—is leading INDIA bloc MPs in daily protests on the streets of Delhi.
Rahul Gandhi standing on top of barricades with the Tricolour, Tejaswi Yadav climbing over barricades in Patna during Lok Bhavan Chalo protest, Priyanka Gandhi lying down on the road holding a copy of the Indian Constitution as women MPs and leaders of INDIA bloc formed a human chain — all made for a visually rich and hard-to-miss answer to the questions: “Where is the Opposition?”
Repeated detentions, illegal restrictions, multiple FIRs, forceful removals, and repeated physical brutal force by Delhi police haven’t deterred Gandhi-Kharge-led INDIA bloc MPs from hitting the streets. India’s Opposition is on the streets, demanding accountability and taking on the full might of the state machinery.
Rahul Gandhi himself, a Z+ category protectee, was seen being pushed violently, dragged away forcefully, and huddled into police vehicles. By day three, when INDIA bloc MPs decided to continue their protests at Raj Ghat, they faced no resistance.
Also Read: Opposition gets to Raj Ghat without a fight
Suddenly, the same channels have gone from “where is Congress” to “Rahul Gandhi is inciting anarchy”. What is interesting is that this isn’t the first time India’s Opposition parties have hit the streets in protest. If anything, Rahul Gandhi’s sole, repeated attack on the alleged Adani-Modi nexus paved the way for more leaders and citizens to talk about crony capitalism, misuse of public funds, and duopoly.
Samajwadi Party workers demand the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar in Lucknow.
The difference is simple: channels have blocked out any protest by the Opposition for years. From the Citizenship (Amendment) Act-National Register of Citizens and crony capitalism to the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) paper leak, thousands of Opposition workers and leaders across the country have protested on multiple issues inside and outside Parliament.
Yet, this time, TV channels were forced to telecast concerning visuals of elected MPs being bruised, dragged and detained by Delhi police in the national capital. What changed? While TV channels are a powerful tool of visual influence, they are no longer the sole source of influence. As more and more Opposition parties move away from TV channels and onto social media, the former is only playing catch-up, even if it’s just to throw around words like “anarchists” to describe elected MPs.
For years, the BJP and its political support system have built narratives, created vocabulary, distorted statements and manipulated videos to discredit the public image of Rahul Gandhi — even before his stature rose in politics. This worked to a great extent because the media reinforced the vocabulary and tropes, efforts aimed at undermining his credibility as a serious politician. After years of personal attacks for being a Shehzada (prince), Rahul Gandhi has become a street fighter—the one India needs today.
Also Read: Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka forcibly removed after hours-long sit-in near ECI
A senior BJP office bearer, in conversation with this correspondent, had once recalled a question Home Minister Amit Shah had asked a BJP MP from Karnataka after a protest in the state: “How many lathis did you take? How many policemen did it take to detain you? Your protest matters only if that happened.” Going by Shah’s standards, Rahul Gandhi and INDIA bloc MPs have carried off a massively hit protest in the national capital.
Rahul Gandhi leading the anti-SIR protest in Delhi.
After walking across the country with Bharat Jodo and engaging with students, labourers, women, and activists who have faced the brunt of power, Rahul Gandhi is now leading a very public protest by MPs against CEC Kumar, moving from press conferences in closed rooms and questions in Parliament to protests on the streets.
Elected MPs engaged in a democratic, peaceful protest shouldn’t have had to face police brutality in the first place. In no well-functioning democracy is a Leader of the Opposition dragged away from a protest by force. Several questions were raised: why did MPs have to do this at all, and why not take it up in Parliament, where they are elected to do just that? The answer lies in how the ruling dispensation under BJP-led NDA has destroyed set precedents and demolished accountability.
When cameras in Parliament focus on the Speaker and Chairman instead of Opposition MPs who rise to speak, when microphones are turned off to stop them from being heard, when their speeches are wiped off from Parliament records, when neither the Prime Minister nor the Home Minister answer questions in Parliament and refuse to be accountable, the only choice for the Opposition is to take the fight to where the common citizen can see, hear, and participate.
That is exactly what the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, is doing.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
