New Delhi : Rahul Gandhi and INDIA bloc leaders faced detention for the second consecutive day in Delhi as their protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar escalated, highlighting growing concerns over electoral integrity.

Rahul Gandhi led INDIA bloc leaders in a surprise dharna near Jantar Mantar on Wednesday, protesting against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Police forcibly detained Gandhi and other opposition MPs for the second day, preventing their planned anti-CEC protests.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra dramatically lay on the street, clutching the Constitution, during the confrontation with security personnel.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hosted a lunch for alliance MPs, which served as a cover for launching the street protest.

Opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, vowed to continue protesting until CEC Gyanesh Kumar resigns, citing concerns over electoral integrity.

Giving further momentum to his politics of street protest, Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday led INDIA bloc leaders to another resistance-packed day -- moving from the opposition grouping's vegetarian lunch meeting to near Jantar Mantar in a procession of buses for a surprise dharna. But for the second day, the police stalled the planned anti-CEC protests midway, forcibly detaining him and other leaders.

"We are not going to stop protesting till (Chief Election Commissioner) Gyanesh Kumar resigns. This is a fight to protect the most sacred thing in this country. There is nothing that Narendra Modi and Amit Shah can do that will stop us," Gandhi said.

Opposition's Delhi Dharna
There were several dramatic moments in the nearly three-hour-long bus procession and an impromptu sit-in at the roundabout in front of the Shangri-La hotel when the opposition MPs were stopped by security personnel, with Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra lying flat on her back on the street, clutching a copy of the Constitution, along with other women leaders.

Rahul Gandhi kept resisting police attempts to put him inside a van for detention. The INDIA bloc leaders jostled with security personnel who tried to detain them and clear the area.

A day after INDIA bloc MPs' march from Parliament and Rahul Gandhi's sit-in at Akashvani Bhawan, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hosted the lunch for the MPs of the alliance at a South Indian restaurant at Janpath, seen by many as a show of solidarity and a cover for launching another street protest.

The MPs converged at the all-vegetarian Sagar Ratna. Earlier, Rahul Gandhi was trolled online by a section of X users for having a non-vegetarian roll from 'Khan Chacha' eatery during his eight-hour sit-in at the Akashvani Bhawan.

The lunch began at 1:30 PM with Opposition MPs congregating for a second straight day.

Bus Procession Halted
After about one-and-a-half hours, the MPs streamed out of the eatery and went and sat in three buses parked on Janpath Road and headed towards Jantar Mantar.

Some Congress leaders, including Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Imran Masood, Imran Pratapgarhi, Deepender Hooda and Srinivas B V climbed the roof of the bus in which Kharge, Rahul and Priyanka were travelling, and waved the tricolour, as the procession crawled from Janpath to Jantar Mantar, bringing the high security area to a halt for the second day.

However, the buses were stopped by a multi-layered security cordon at Ashoka Road, after travelling a kilometre, near the Shangri-La hotel, barely another kilometre away from the Jantar Mantar protest site.

MPs of the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Communist Party of India-Marxist, Communist Party of India, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Indian Union Muslim League, and some other parties were among the protesters.

Alliance Unity And CEC Demands
The Samajwadi Party was unrepresented at an INDIA bloc lunch, with the Congress attributing the absence of some allies to short notice. However, SP sources separately voiced concerns over a lack of consultation ahead of Rahul Gandhi's surprise protests.

Representatives of the Shiv Sena-UBT and NCP-SP also could not attend because of prior commitments.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said all parties of the INDIA bloc had been invited, but the decision and communication came late on Tuesday night.

"Therefore, it was natural that representatives from some parties could not participate in it. Some media outlets are making unnecessary comments about this," he posted on X.

Ramesh asserted that INDIA bloc constituents and other opposition parties remained united against "vote theft", the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and delimitation.

Before embarking on the bus ride, Gandhi spoke to the media and said, "Today, we feel that we will protest at Jantar Mantar, which is a designated protest site, and tell the country that for us Gyanesh Kumar is not a legitimate Election Commissioner."

"As I said yesterday, around 300 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs wanted to meet Election Commissioners, but they did not meet us. They told us that we cannot protest here (Jantar Mantar)," Gandhi said.

Asked about an FIR being registered against him for entering the Akashvani Bhawan premises and staging an eight-hour sit-in there, Gandhi said, "I have 45 FIRs against me. My target is that there should be 100 FIRs against me. Every FIR against me is a medal for me."

Kharge said the Election Commission is making mistakes and "Modi ji is getting these mistakes done".

"We have decided that we will together take the voice of the people to the country. We will tell the people that their rights are being taken away. We are working hard to protest those rights of people. We are all united and will continue to fight against this government," the Congress chief said.

On FIR's registered against the Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, he said, "You may register as many cases as you want; we are not going to be scared."

Confrontation And Detention
As the bus procession reached the Shangri-La roundabout from the Jantar Mantar road, some young protesters were seen tearing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's posters and banners put up at the roundabout.

As the bus carrying Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, among others, neared the multi-layered security personnel cordon, it was stopped, with the security personnel urging them not to proceed further as BNS 163 was in force.

Soon there was a melee as leaders and the security personnel jostled amid loud sloganeering, demanding the CEC's resignation. Priyanka Gandhi and some other women MPs then lay flat on the ground, with the Congress general secretary clutching a copy of the Constitution in her hand.

Both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were forcibly put in police buses and vans and detained.

Some of the Congress leaders, including Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Udai Bhanu Chib, climbed atop the bus carrying Rahul Gandhi, while Mumtaz Patel sat on its bonnet.

Later, the Congress said, "The bus in which Rahul Gandhi ji was being taken was punctured by Congress's Babbar lions near Agrasen ki Baoli."

The leaders were then taken to a police station in central Delhi.

In a video attached to an X post, Rahul Gandhi said that "Prime Minister Modi, Amit Shah, (RSS chief) Mohan Bhagwat and Gyanesh Kumar can do all this, but we are going to bring them to justice. My guarantee that all four of them will be brought to justice."

"This is all a panic reaction. This is all fear. They are going to be brought to justice, mark my words," he said.

The was the latest in a series of protests by political leaders and civil activists to press for Chief Election Commissioner Kumar's resignation since a September 25 Indian Express report that suggested irregularities in the SIR process and differences among the election commissioners.