The INDIA bloc, led by Congress and Lok Sabha opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, will march to the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Friday, marking the fourth consecutive day of protests against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The opposition alliance is seeking a meeting with President Droupadi Murmu to raise concerns over the voter-list revision exercise and press for Kumar’s removal.
The proposed march comes amid escalating tensions between opposition parties and the Election Commission over allegations of irregularities in the electoral process.
Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal said on Thursday that opposition leaders had sought an appointment with the president and were awaiting a response.
According to news agency PTI, Venugopal said the first letter was sent on 2 October, followed by another request on 5 October that included the names of the proposed delegation members.
The opposition had received no response by Thursday, he said, adding that they would wait until Friday.
Opposition continues protest at Rajghat
On Thursday, Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi and other INDIA bloc MPs visited Rajghat after a lunch meeting and staged a sit-in at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial.
The leaders alleged “vote chori”, accusing the authorities of undermining electoral fairness through the revision of voter lists.
In a post on X late Thursday, Rahul Gandhi said efforts to protect India’s Constitution, democracy and the voice of its people had begun, describing the campaign as a responsibility shared by every Indian.
He said the movement aimed to deliver justice, restore public faith in democracy and ensure accountability, adding that the campaign would continue.
The protest followed three days of demonstrations across the capital. On Tuesday, more than 300 opposition MPs marched towards the Election Commission’s office but were stopped by police barricades. Rahul Gandhi climbed onto a barricade and waved the national flag during the demonstration.
Some opposition MPs, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, later staged a sit-in inside the Akashvani Bhawan complex after they were prevented from proceeding.
On Wednesday, opposition leaders protested near the Shangri-La hotel in central Delhi after police stopped them from moving forward. Opposition parties alleged that several leaders were forcibly removed and detained.
Dispute over voter-list revision
At the centre of the protests is the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, a nationwide exercise aimed at reviewing voter lists.
Opposition parties allege that the deletion of voters disproportionately affects people likely to support them, while voters more inclined to back Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are being retained or added to the lists.
The Election Commission and the government have rejected the allegations, maintaining that the revision is intended to remove duplicate and ineligible entries.
The scale of the exercise has also drawn attention. Reports cited in the ongoing controversy say more than 130 million names have been removed from voter lists, although the opposition and election authorities disagree over the implications and justification of the revisions.
The dispute has intensified political confrontation between the opposition and the ruling establishment, with the INDIA bloc demanding Kumar’s removal and raising concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
The BJP, meanwhile, has accused the opposition of creating disorder. BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia rejected the opposition’s allegations against police action, describing them as baseless.
The opposition campaign has also coincided with demonstrations organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a youth-led movement that began as a satirical online campaign and has since organised street protests against the voter-list revision.
On Thursday, the group held a protest at Freedom Park in Bengaluru, where convenor Abhijeet Dipke accused the government of using its authority to suppress dissent.
At a “People’s Tribunal” organised by civil society groups and the CJP, Dipke alleged that voter deletions were being used to disenfranchise people opposed to the BJP. YouTuber Dhruv Rathee and actor-activist Prakash Raj also addressed the gathering.
The CJP has announced a protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on 10 October, prompting additional security arrangements in the capital.
Separately, a CJP spokesperson claimed on Thursday that at least 10,000 people associated with the movement, student organisations and affiliated groups had been detained across the country. The claim could not be independently verified, and police had not immediately responded to requests for comment, according to reports.
The planned demonstration comes amid heightened political tensions over the voter-list revision and police restrictions on recent protests.
With the INDIA bloc seeking direct intervention from President Murmu, Friday’s proposed march is expected to mark another phase in the opposition’s campaign against the Election Commission’s handling of the SIR exercise.
