The protest that wouldn’t end: Inside Rahul Gandhi’s daylong siege of Akashvani Bhawan

It looked as though the protests were winding down around noon on Tuesday (October 6, 2026), as buses packed with protesting parliamentarians trundled away from Akashvani Bhawan in the national capital after nearly two hours of sloganeering.

Only Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had another idea.

“This can’t end here,” Mr. Gandhi told his colleagues. “Where is Priyanka [Gandhi]? Where is Akhilesh [Yadav]?” he asked. Both leaders had been packed into buses by the police.

Many Congress parliamentarians, along with Priyanka Gandhi, got down from the buses they had been packed into. But the bus carrying Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, which also had Trinamool Congress’ Abhishek Banerjee, CPI(M)’s John Brittas and others, had already left the site.

Mr. Gandhi first proposed that the remaining group march to India Gate and tried walking back towards Parliament, away from the barricades, only to be told that all roads were blocked. So, he turned back.

Standing inside Akashvani Bhavan premises, Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi speaks to the media during the INDIA bloc MPs' march from Parliament to the ECI, demanding CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation, in New Delhi on Tuesday. Photo credit: AICC via ANI

Squeezed into Akashvani Bhawan

In front of Akashvani Bhawan, he spotted All India Radio staffers who had spent two hours standing on the parapet wall, clutching the grills that fenced the complex and watching the protest unfold. He waved at them and then, without any warning, waded into the crowd and headed for the narrow pedestrian gate of the complex. He squeezed his way into the premises.