A day after thousands marched through central Delhi to the doorstep of the Supreme Court, the opposition moved its fight against alleged vote fraud indoors. Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi hosted top INDIA bloc leaders, opposition MPs, student groups and civil society activists at his residence on Tuesday afternoon, in a tea meeting billed as a strategy huddle for the next phase of the campaign demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The meeting at Gandhi’s 5, Sunehri Bagh Road residence followed Monday’s “March for Democracy”, a show of strength in which Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and several others led protesters to the Supreme Court and filed a joint petition challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Announcing the huddle on social media, Gandhi wrote that the struggle to protect democracy was a people’s movement and declared: “All protests are one.”
What was decided at the meeting
Emerging from the tea session, opposition leaders said the protests would continue regardless of what institutions decide. Rahul Gandhi told a joint press conference that the opposition respects the Supreme Court and the Chief Justice, but added that political and people’s resistance would go on no matter which institution plays its part.
Congress president Kharge described the protests so far as a “massive success”, while CPI general secretary D Raja said the leaders had discussed their campaign demanding the CEC’s resignation and condemned the Delhi Police’s move to strip Jantar Mantar of its status as a designated protest site. TMC leader Sagarika Ghose demanded an immediate halt to the SIR exercise, restoration of the earlier electoral rolls, and accountability for what she called irregularities in the revision process.
Among those present were Sonia Gandhi, NCP (SCP) MP Supriya Sule, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby, JMM’s Mahua Majhi, student leader Neha Bora, and Trinamool MPs Mahua Moitra and Sagarika Ghose. The group agreed to chart the next course of action after the Supreme Court hears the petition filed on Monday.
How the row built up
The opposition has been alleging large-scale irregularities in the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls, accusing the poll body of enabling bulk deletions of voters. The row has escalated sharply over the past week:
- Sunday: Youth organisations protested in Delhi seeking the CEC’s resignation; a Rajya Sabha MP and several protesters were allegedly injured and detained, and around a dozen journalists were picked up despite a Supreme Court order.
- Monday: Thousands of opposition supporters marched from Connaught Place toward the Supreme Court. Some protesters broke past a barricade at Bhagwan Das Road before being stopped at a second checkpoint. Six Delhi metro stations were closed for part of the day.
- Also Monday: 11 opposition leaders filed a joint petition in the Supreme Court against the poll panel. The court’s registry has since flagged more than 10 defects in the filing. Chief Justice Surya Kant declined a request for a meeting with the Leader of the Opposition, saying the matter is sub judice.
- Tuesday: Three Cockroach Janata Party leaders were detained by Delhi Police while trying to enter Jantar Mantar, whose status as an official protest venue was revoked by the police.
BJP hits back
The government and the BJP have dismissed the campaign as frustration over electoral defeats. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday that the Congress had lost all recent bypolls under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership and asked him to introspect rather than blame the Election Commission. Earlier, senior minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had accused the Congress of attacking the Constitution because it had been losing elections.
Samajwadi Party MP Dharmendra Yadav, speaking separately, alleged that the Election Commission had become a “puppet of the BJP” and claimed protesters, journalists and government critics were being jailed.
What happens next
All eyes are now on the Supreme Court, where the opposition’s petition awaits a hearing. The leaders present at Tuesday’s meeting indicated that the next steps, including the scale and location of future protests, would be decided once the court takes up the matter. With the denotification of Jantar Mantar, the traditional protest site of the capital, the opposition has also announced it will challenge that move.
For now, the message from the tea meeting is clear: the INDIA bloc intends to keep the SIR issue alive on the streets and in court, and today’s huddle was about turning Monday’s march into a sustained campaign.
FAQs
What is the SIR row about?
The opposition alleges irregularities in the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, including bulk voter deletions, and has demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
What happened at Rahul Gandhi’s tea meeting on October 13?
Gandhi hosted INDIA bloc leaders, MPs, student groups and civil society members at his Delhi residence to plan the next phase of protests. Afterward, leaders vowed the “resistance” would continue regardless of institutional responses.
What was the March for Democracy?
A protest march on October 12 in which thousands of opposition supporters, led by top INDIA bloc leaders, marched through central Delhi to the Supreme Court to demand the CEC’s resignation and submit a joint petition.
Has the Supreme Court taken up the opposition’s petition?
Not yet. The court’s registry has flagged more than 10 defects in the filing submitted by 11 opposition leaders on October 12, and the leaders say they will decide their next steps after the hearing.
Why is Jantar Mantar in the news?
Delhi Police revoked Jantar Mantar’s status as a designated protest venue, a move the opposition has condemned and said it will challenge.
The opposition says this fight is far from over. Whether the courts or the streets decide its course will become clearer in the coming days.
