Video: Akhilesh Yadav Jumps Police Barricade During Opposition Protest

As police tried to stop Opposition leaders from marching to the Election Commission of India amid allegations of "vote fraud", Samajwadi Party chief and Kannauj MP Akhilesh Yadav was seen jumping over a barricade put up by the cops to block their way.

In a video shared by news agency ANI, Mr Yadav is seen speaking to a policeman before climbing the barricade. At one point, he pauses to adjust his party's red cap, then crosses over to the other side. "They are using the police to stop us," the 52-year-old leader shouted after crossing the barricades.

Top Opposition leaders cutting across party lines were detained today during their march to the poll body's office to protest the Special Intensive Revision of voter lists and the alleged collusion between the Election Commission and the BJP -- a charge both the poll body and the ruling party have trashed.

#WATCH | Delhi: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav jumped over a police barricade as Delhi Police stopped INDIA bloc leaders marching from the Parliament to the Election Commission of India to protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound… pic.twitter.com/ddHMdwWPqs

— ANI (@ANI) August 11, 2025

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, his sister and MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Sanjay Raut were among the MPs who were put in a bus and driven away. "This fight is not political. It is to save the Constitution. The fight is for 'one person, one vote'. The reality is they cannot talk... the truth is in front of the country," Mr Gandhi told reporters.

Joint Commissioner of Police Deepak Purohit told the media, "Detained INDIA bloc leaders have been taken to a nearby police station." The senior cop said the opposition leaders did not have the police's permission for a protest of this scale, and that only 30 MPs had been cleared to march to the Election Commission's office and submit a complaint.

The march began from the Parliament and was led by Mr Gandhi, who sparked a massive row by alleging vote fraud in an Assembly constituency in Bengaluru during the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

As police detained the protesting MPs, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi said, "They are scared. The government is a coward."

Dimple Yadav, Samajwadi Party MP and Akhilesh Yadav's wife, was part of the protest march. "Questions are being raised about our democracy. In UP, by-elections were held on 10 Vidhan Sabha seats; not only were votes stolen, but booths were captured. Why didn't the Election Commission take action against the officers who were working on orders of the state government?"

Senior BJP leader Amit Malviya slammed the Opposition's protest and said they want to turn the country into a "dharmshala".

"It is ironic that the I.N.D.I Alliance parties are marching to the Election Commission demanding that dead, permanently shifted, duplicate voters and foreign nationals, ineligible to vote, be included in the voter list. This is a conspiracy to keep Bangladeshis and Rohingya on the voter lists. They want to turn the country into a dharmashala."

"And in all this tamasha, Rahul Gandhi won't submit proof of his allegations under Declaration/Oath nor will the more than 60,000 BLAs of Congress-RJD file even a single claim or objection," he said.