Election Commission rejects meeting with 240 Opposition MPs over protocol

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has turned down a demand to meet a massive delegation of 240 Opposition MPs at the Parliament Annexe, calling the scale of the proposed meeting "unusual and unacceptable" and a violation of established protocol.

The standoff developed after more than 300 Opposition MPs from the INDIA bloc initiated a protest march from the Parliament Complex to the ECI office, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of malpractice. The ECI stated that it was only informed by Delhi Police at 4 pm that a delegation led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi sought a meeting, but no party had officially requested one prior to that. The Commission offered to send a senior officer to collect the MPs' memorandum, but the offer was declined.