P. Chidambaram, a former Union Minister and Congress party figure, has urged the Chief Electoral Officers of every Indian state to disclose what he characterised as irregular conduct carried out during the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls under the oversight of Chief Electoral Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

In an X post dated 3 October, Chidambaram put forward a claim that around 133 million living people had been improperly left off electoral rolls, characterising the omission as a serious constitutional violation. He called on Chief Electoral Officers across states to come forward and disclose what he described as unlawful actions they had been pressured into carrying out under the Special Intensive Revision, in accordance with instructions he attributed to Gyanesh Kumar.

Roughly 133 million people — with the exception of those who have died — were reportedly left off the electoral rolls, a situation that legal observers have described as a potential violation of voting registration requirements. Among the provisions Chidambaram put forward was an appeal for fidelity to India's Constitution alongside a willingness to act with resolve.

The appeal followed pushback from opposition figures. On 2 October, Rahul Gandhi — serving as Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha — put forward a demand that Gyanesh Kumar vacate the Chief Electoral Commissioner post, as part of a wider effort directed at the Election Commission.

On Gandhi Jayanti, Gandhi drew attention to protests involving large numbers of young people against what he described as electoral fraud, adding that hundreds of those taking part had been taken into custody. Young people gathered that day in a peaceful demonstration, citing their constitutional right to challenge what they characterised as fraud in the election. Gandhi's remarks also included a call for Gyanesh Kumar's resignation.

Invoking Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence and truthfulness, Gandhi urged the crowd to uphold democratic values, drawing on the principle that Bapu had long advocated — that truth be spoken openly and resistance conducted without violence. Analysts have pointed to the dispute as a source of notable political discomfort for the administration.

Protests drawing in opposition parties, student bodies, and civil society groups have taken shape across Delhi and Mumbai in response to the dispute. More than 500 people were taken into custody in Delhi on 2 October — a group that included Aam Aadmi Party legislator Saurabh Bhardwaj and other opposition members — following the invocation of prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023. At Shivaji Park in Mumbai, gatherings organised by opposition parties called for greater openness in how electoral rolls are revised.

The INDIA bloc has a gathering scheduled for 6 October, with a larger rally in Delhi planned for 1 November as the alliance continues building street-level momentum.

Footage capturing no fewer than 14 formal objections raised by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi over a ten-month period — touching on the Special Intensive Revision process alongside wider electoral procedures — now forms part of the context in which the ongoing political disagreement is playing out. Among the objections raised were questions touching on Form 6 procedures, the removal of names from voter rolls, and how parties could gain entry to electoral roll databases.

The Election Commission characterised the pushback from within the body as falling within routine administrative channels, stating that the queries, inputs, and suggestions in question had been raised during the drafting phase as part of ordinary decision-making — not as any form of institutional dissent. The Commission's records show that all votes on the Special Intensive Revision schedule were recorded in favour.