New Delhi: After two days of confrontations with Delhi Police as they sought to protest against the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, demanding his resignation over the conduct of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls, Opposition MPs on Thursday (October 8) paid a symbolic visit to Gandhi Samadhi at Raj Ghat.Unlike the past two days, when their protests ended in police detentions, Thursday’s protest was calm with the Delhi Police, RAF and other security personnel allowing the MPs, packed in three buses, to visit Raj Ghat.At Raj Ghat, the Opposition MPs sat on a silent protest where they offered floral tributes and prayed. The silent protest came, like on Wednesday, after a lunch meeting at Moet’s restaurant in Connaught Place. On Wednesday, the MPs had lunch at Sagar Ratna. They had subsequently boarded three buses to attempt to reach a heavily barricaded Jantar Mantar, when the police stopped and subsequently detained them.“This is the third day of our protest. We have protested peacefully and raised people’s issues. All of us went to Gandhi Ji’s memorial site and prayed that the Modi government be blessed with wisdom, so that these people stop vote theft. Those who engage in vote theft should resign, and the right to people’s votes should be protected,” said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to reporters at Raj Ghat.Following the lunch meeting, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said that about 300 MPs have been trying to protest for the last two days but were not being allowed to do so. He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, CEC Kumar and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat of hijacking the country “through a criminal conspiracy.”“Around 300 MPs want to hold a peaceful sit-in, but for two days we are not being allowed. On the first day, we were stopped near the Election Commission’s office. Then on the second day, we were prevented from going to Jantar Mantar, and our people were beaten,” he said.Also read: As Gyanesh Kumar Disappears From Public Sight, Security Apparatus Protects Him, Turns on Protesters“The reality is that Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Mohan Bhagwat and Gyanesh Kumar have hijacked the country through a criminal conspiracy. They have destroyed the constitution and stolen votes. They will be brought to justice. This is our guarantee, and you will see it happen.”Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Member of Parliament Priyanka Gandhi and Congress president and MP Mallikarjun Kharge at Raj Ghat on Thursday, October 8, 2026. Photo: INCApart from Gandhi and Kharge, other Congress MPs including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and K.C. Venugopal were present, along with Congress chief ministers from Telangana A. Revanth Reddy and Himachal Pradesh Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu. Left MPs including John Brittas of CPI(M), P. Sandosh Kumar of CPI and Trinamool Congress MPs Abhishek Banerjee and Maneka Guruswamy and Manoj Kumar Jha of the RJD were at the protest.While on Wednesday the Samajwadi Party had remained absent, stirring speculation ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections next year about its equations with the Congress, two MPs, Rajiv Rai and Mohibullah Naqvi, were present on Thursday.On Wednesday, Opposition sources had said that the Samajwadi Party had remained absent due to a “miscommunication over WhatsApp”.The Wire has learnt that the Opposition had decided Thursday’s protest would be different from the last two days, and would remain off the streets, following which Raj Ghat was picked as the site.While the Opposition has sought an appointment with President Draupadi Murmu as part of their demand that the CEC resigns, their letter has not yet received a formal reply.“Yes, we have already requested the President of India for a meeting with her with the top INDIA alliance leaders. The first request letter was sent on October 2,” said Venugopal outside Moet’s.“Then Rashtrapati Bhavan office intimated us to give us names. After that, on October 5, we have given a request again with the names, with all INDIA alliance leaders. Basically, we asked for an appointment for 7th, 8th, 9th. Today is the 8th. We will wait for tomorrow also… So far, there is no response.”Also read: ‘EC Played Like a Puppet’: INDIA Bloc Seals Roadmap to Ramp Up Anti-SIR AgitationSources said that Opposition leaders have said that a smaller list including representatives of about 10 parties’ names have been provided for a meeting with the President. The Wire has learnt that the Opposition will continue its protest on Friday, where a visit to the Rashtrapati Bhawan is on the cards.Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is also expected to join the other INDIA bloc members on Friday.The silent protest on Thursday marked a departure from the last two days. While on Tuesday, the Opposition led a march from parliament to the Election Commission, which was stopped midway and subsequently saw Rahul Gandhi sit on an eight-hour protest at Akashvani Bhawan before being detained, the protest on Wednesday saw a face-off with the police, as the MPs sought to reach Jantar Mantar before the were detained.