Gaurav Gogoi Detained In Guwahati Protest Over Demand For Gyanesh Kumar’s Resignation

Gaurav Gogoi and several senior Assam Congress leaders were detained in Guwahati on Friday while trying to cross police barricades during a protest demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. The Congress had marched from Rajiv Bhawan towards the Chief Electoral Officer’s office to burn an effigy of Kumar.

Gogoi headed the protest as Assam Congress president. Police said the detained group included AICC secretary Manoj Chauhan, Seva Dal president Deep Bayan and APCC general secretary Udit Bhanu Das, along with several others.

During the protest, Gogoi demanded Kumar’s resignation and legal action against him. “After people have come to know today that Gyanesh Kumar has committed a crime, he should resign. There should be legal action against him and he should be arrested,” Gogoi said.

Detention And Allegations

Police had put up barricades near Rajiv Bhawan.

Gogoi and other Congress leaders tried to cross the barricades during the march. They were then detained, police informed, according to India Today.

Congress spokesperson Bedabrata Bora alleged that the leaders were “forcefully arrested” and claimed that “this is yet another threat to democracy”.

Why Congress Protesting

The trigger came from an Indian Express investigation published on September 23. The report said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded at least 14 objections over 10 months to decisions taken under Gyanesh Kumar.

The objections covered alleged unauthorised changes to voter-registration Form 6, the centralisation of electoral-roll data and the addition, deletion and restoration of voters without their knowledge, The Indian Express reported. Congress cited those complaints as proof of “vote theft” and accused Kumar of acting in favour of the ruling establishment.

The Election Commission rejected that reading in a September 23 statement. In that statement, it said that all decisions, including those related to the Special Intensive Revision, were unanimous and lawful, and that written objections and differing views were part of routine internal checks. It also said draft-stage suggestions should not be treated as final decisions.

Earlier Detention Context

No official Assam Police statement confirming the reason for the September 25, 2026 detention of Gaurav Gogoi and the other Congress leaders was available in the sources reviewed as of September 25, 2026.

In a separate Guwahati Congress protest on December 20, 2024, police cited prohibitory orders intended to prevent disruption of traffic, office functioning, public peace and tranquillity. Officers described the action as detention, including “preventive detention,” rather than arrest.