INDIA bloc leaders submit memorandum to Bihar Governor, demand CEC removal and re-election in State

The INDIA bloc (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) leaders, led by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) National Working President Tejashwi Yadav, on Thursday (October 8, 2026) took out a massive Lok Bhavan March in Patna. The demonstration was part of the Statewide agitation towards the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, demanding his resignation.

A large number of INDIA bloc leaders and workers gathered near the statues of the seven martyrs in front of the Bihar Vidhan Sabha for the march and raised slogans against the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging fraud in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

The leaders who participated in the march were Bihar Congress President Rajesh Ram, Mukesh Sahani of Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), Ramnaresh Pandey of Communist Party of India (CPI), Dipankar Bhattacharya of CPI (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, I.P. Gupta of Indian Inclusive Party (IIP) and other leaders. Many leaders were even detained by the police, including Mr. Ram who was protesting while hand-cuffed.

The police had set up multi-layered barricading for security purposes; however, Mr. Yadav, along with other leaders, managed to cross two barricades, but at the third barricade, the police stopped them from going ahead. Police and the INDIA bloc leaders also got engaged in a scuffle.

“The Bihar Assembly Election was held by stealing the votes. Gyanesh Kumar acted on the behest of the BJP,, he must resign. The entire election process is biased. Why BJP is trying to protect Gyanesh Kumar? Because they are the ones who have sent him to steal votes. BJP is in power because of Gyanesh Kumar theft,”Mr. Yadav said while speaking to reporters during the march.

Later, the INDIA bloc delegation led by Tejashwi Yadav went to Lok Bhavan and submitted a memorandum to the Governor of Bihar, Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain, against decisions taken by CEC Gyanesh Kumar.

In the memorandum, the INDIA bloc alleged that Gyanesh Kumar has been acting at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. They raised the point that despite the opposition and dissent of other Election Commissioners, Mr. Kumar took decisions to illegally disenfranchise a large number of voters.

“These actions, carried out via the ‘SIR’ mechanism just before elections in Bihar and West Bengal and subsequently across the country, were intended to benefit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). These decisions shook the very foundations of the nation’s democracy and overturned the natural and expected outcomes of past elections. Today, the country’s governance system has fallen victim to the arbitrary whims of two leaders,” INDIA bloc wrote in the memorandum.

The three-page memorandum further alleged that Constitutional bodies like the ECI have abandoned the dignity of their autonomy and are engaged in sycophancy towards a specific ruling party and specific individuals, striving to ensure their electoral victories.

They submitted the memorandum to the governor and said, “Reminding you of the responsibility to uphold the Constitution, we submit the demands to the President of India through you.”

INDIA bloc demanded the removal of Gyanesh Kumar from office and criminal proceedings against him. The leaders also demanded to halt the ongoing ‘SIR ‘, and the names of all voters removed from the electoral rolls must be reinstated without delay.

“The 2023 law regarding the appointment of Election Commissioners should be repealed. An inquiry should be conducted into the appointment and suspicious role of the Election Commission’s IT Head, Seema Khanna, and elections in the country should be conducted using ballot papers,” the memorandum stated.

They also demanded that the 2025 Bihar Legislative Assembly election should be declared illegal and annulled, and a fresh election should be held.