New Delhi, Oct. 6 -- Tensions reached a boiling point outside the Election Commission of India (ECI) headquarters on Tuesday as Congress workers and INDIA bloc supporters attempted to force their way into Nirvachan Sadan.

The attempt to breach the poll body's gates triggered sharp scuffles with security personnel, even as Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, and other senior parliamentarians staged a sit-in demonstration inside the nearby Akashvani complex, barely 100 metres away.

Hitting out at the heavy-handed police deployment blocking the opposition leadership from handing over a formal memorandum, Congress leader Pawan Khera said the government was gripped by fear.

"The Election ...