NEW DELHI: Opposition leaders, party workers and members of the public took to the streets of central Delhi in a massive show of strength on Monday as the INDIA bloc intensified its campaign against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging electoral irregularities and demanding an end to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
The ‘Chalo Delhi—March for Democracy,’ was later followed by the filing of a joint petition in the Supreme Court seeking judicial intervention over the allegations. INDIA bloc has demanded Kumar’s resignation, suspension of SIR, a return to ballot papers and poll reforms.
Led by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the march began near the Connaught Place–Barakhamba Road junction.
Opposition leaders, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule and CPI’s D Raja, joined the mobilisation alongside activists Yogendra Yadav and Nandita Narayan and AISA chief Neha Bora. Police stopped the march at Bhagwan Dass Road about 1km away, with security tightened across central Delhi.
The petition, filed later in the day, lists several Opposition leaders as petitioners and challenges alleged irregularities in the SIR process. The SC registry subsequently flagged at least 10 defects in the plea.
Addressing a reporters ahead of the march, Rahul said the Opposition’s campaign was a collective effort to defend democratic institutions, rather than a series of separate party-led protests. “There are no parallel protests, there is one protest,” he said, adding that anyone committed to protecting the Constitution would have the Opposition’s support.
“People should continue with the protests as the country cannot be saved in a day or two,” he said. Addressing Kumar, Rahul said, “Resign, turn approver; you have made a mistake but you are not the mind behind the mistake.” He said the campaign would continue until the Election Commission’s leadership changed, the Constitution was upheld and the electoral system was overhauled.
On X, Rahul said the INDIA bloc had written to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, who directed them to approach the court through a petition. He urged people across political affiliations to join the campaign. “We want India to believe that India is not scared of anything,” he said, adding that the agitation would continue.
Rahul challenges legality of SIR
LoP Rahul Gandhi’s writ petition in the SC challenges the legality of the SIR, alleging large-scale deletion of genuine voters. It seeks a direction to the ECI to place on record relevant ECINET and ERONET access logs and the complete file recording the decision to commence the SIR across India.
‘Didn’t approve or disapprove Form 6’
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said the SC had neither approved nor disapproved the revised Form 6. The court said the ECI cannot claim judicial endorsement for its revised form and that earlier orders (from Bihar SIR case) cannot be cited as approval for a form introduced later.
