New Delhi, October 6: Tensions escalated outside the Election Commission of India (ECI) headquarters on Tuesday as Congress workers and INDIA bloc supporters tried to enter Nirvachan Sadan, leading to scuffles with security personnel and increased police deployment in the area.

The confrontation began when Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other senior INDIA bloc parliamentarians staged a sit-in at the nearby Akashvani complex, about 100 metres from the ECI office. The leaders were seeking to submit a memorandum to the poll panel over their demands concerning electoral rolls and the functioning of the Election Commission.

Congress leader Pawan Khera criticised the police arrangements, alleging that the opposition leaders were being prevented from reaching the ECI headquarters.

"The Election Commission is right next door, but they are not allowing the country's Leader of the Opposition to go; he has been stopped. So you can see, Rahul Gandhi ji, Priyanka Gandhi ji, and all of us are sitting here on a dharna inside Akashvani. The Election Commission is hardly 100 meters from here," Khera told reporters.

Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Khera alleged that the government's actions reflected fear over the Opposition's demands.

"The Leader of the Opposition wants to go there and submit his memorandum, but he is being stopped, and everyone is being stopped very ruthlessly. This is the condition of this country's democracy in the national capital," he said.

Visuals from the protest site showed Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and several senior INDIA bloc MPs seated inside the Akashvani Bhavan premises, with police personnel and barricades restricting their movement towards Nirvachan Sadan.

During the protest march, Congress MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa alleged irregularities in the electoral process and called for the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

"We should demand the resignation of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, at whose behest these wrongdoings are taking place. If the decision within the Election Commission is to be taken by just one person, then why were two other individuals appointed? The system should be scrapped," Randhawa told ANI.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Sudhakar Singh said the protest went beyond the INDIA bloc and represented what he described as broader public concern over democratic institutions.

"It is not just the INDIA alliance; sensible voters across the country are united today. This is a crucial fight to save democracy and protect the Constitution," Singh said.

Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Rajeev Kumar Rai also criticised the Election Commission, claiming that the protest reflected growing public concern over the functioning of the poll body.

"The people of the nation have come forward against the Election Commission of India," Rai told ANI.

Congress leader Sukhdeo Bhagat said the Opposition would expand the agitation beyond the national capital, with protests planned at the district level.

"We are protesting in a democratic manner, and we will also stage protests at the district level. In a democracy, the people are supreme, and the public has now realised that this government was formed by stealing the mandate," Bhagat said.

The developments followed a march by hundreds of INDIA bloc MPs towards Nirvachan Sadan. Police stopped the protesters near the NITI Aayog office as they sought to press their demands for greater transparency in electoral rolls and called for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Earlier, tensions had risen along the high-security route after some MPs climbed police barricades. Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal were among the senior leaders taken into custody during the protest.