A massive march by the Grand Alliance (INDIA Bloc) was held in Patna, the capital of Bihar, against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. Led by Tejashwi Yadav, Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, prominent leaders from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, VIP, and Left parties, along with thousands of workers, took to the streets. The march began at the Martyrs’ Memorial and was scheduled to proceed towards Saptamatru near the Secretariat and Lok Bhavan/Raj Bhavan. For security reasons, Patna Police deployed a large force and erected barricades at several locations. Tejashwi Yadav himself climbed a police barricade, leading to heated exchanges and scuffles between activists and police.
The Grand Alliance alleges that large-scale rigging is taking place under the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) campaign. The opposition claims that through this process, the names of poor, Dalit, backward, and migrant laborers are being deliberately removed from the voter list. Therefore, they are demanding the resignation and removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Due to the widespread uproar during the march, police detained several prominent leaders of the Grand Alliance, including Tejashwi Yadav, Misa Bharti, and Mukesh Sahni. However, the police administration later allowed a six-member delegation, including Tejashwi Yadav, to proceed to the Raj Bhavan/Lok Bhavan in the delegation vehicle. This protest is part of the Grand Alliance’s two-day “Aakrosh March,” as part of which effigies of the Chief Election Commissioner and the central government were burned at all 534 block headquarters in Bihar a day earlier.