After two days of barricades, road blockades, detentions and a prolonged standoff with the Delhi Police, the INDIA bloc on Thursday took its fight against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to Rajghat, turning the third day of its protest into a show of strength in the heart of the national capital.Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress president and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee were among the Opposition leaders who reached Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial, offered floral tributes and prayed for “sadbudhi” to the government and the Election Commission.The protest against the Election Commission, the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and alleged “vote chori” was not confined to Delhi. Opposition parties also held demonstrations in different parts of the country, including Bihar, where RJD leaders and workers marched towards the Raj Bhavan. Protests were also held in Jammu, Nagpur and Hyderabad.The Delhi programme began with another lunch meeting hosted by Kharge at an eatery in Connaught Place around 2 pm. Rahul and Priyanka were present, along with RJD’s Sudhar Singh and Sudhakar Singh, Samajwadi Party leaders Rajiv Rai and Mohibullah, TMC MPs Abhishek Banerjee, Saket Gokhale and Samirul Islam, CPM’s John Brittas, CPI’s P Sandosh and representatives of other INDIA bloc parties.The meeting ended around 3.15 pm, following which the leaders boarded three buses for Gandhi Smarak at Rajghat. A large number of Congress and Opposition workers, carrying flags, walked alongside the buses, raising slogans as the convoy moved through central Delhi.Unlike the previous two days, the police did not stop the Opposition leaders.The buses reached Rajghat, where Delhi Congress workers were already waiting after the state unit had called for the protest. The leaders sat before Gandhi’s samadhi, offered floral tributes and held a prayer.Kharge said it was the third consecutive day of the Opposition’s protest and maintained that the INDIA bloc had remained peaceful while raising issues concerning the public. The prayer at Gandhi’s samadhi, he said, was aimed at seeking wisdom for the government and an end to “vote chori”.He said those responsible for stealing votes should resign and asserted that the right of citizens to vote had to be protected.Before leaving for Rajghat, Rahul said around 300 MPs wanted to protest peacefully but had been stopped near the Election Commission office on the first day and prevented from reaching Jantar Mantar on the second day. He also alleged that Opposition workers had been assaulted.Rahul accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and CEC Gyanesh Kumar of “hijacking” the country through a “criminal conspiracy”. He alleged that they had destroyed the Constitution and stolen votes.He said those responsible would be held accountable under law and asserted that it was his “guarantee”, adding that action against them would be visible in the coming days.In a separate message after the Rajghat visit, the Congress said the Opposition leaders had prayed for wisdom for the Election Commission and the Modi government and alleged that Modi, Shah and Gyanesh were together taking away the people’s right to vote.The Rajghat protest followed two days of confrontation with the Delhi Police.The Opposition’s campaign also moved towards another constitutional avenue on Thursday, with INDIA bloc leaders seeking a meeting with President Droupadi Murmu over the Election Commission, the SIR, the electoral process and voters’ rights.Congress general secretary (organisation) and MP KC Venugopal said the alliance had made two formal requests. The first letter was sent to the Rashtrapati Bhavan on October 2. The President’s office subsequently sought the names of the leaders who would attend, following which another letter was sent on October 5 with the names and a request for an appointment on October 7, 8 or 9.Venugopal said the Opposition had not received a response till Thursday and would wait until Friday before deciding its next course of action.