A request from Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi and his Rajya Sabha counterpart Mallikarjun Kharge for a meeting with Chief Justice of India Surya Kant was not granted, with the approach coming ahead of the INDIA bloc's planned march to the Supreme Court on Monday. A meeting window of 4 pm to 5 pm on October 12 had been formally requested by the two Congress representatives, who intended to hand over a memorandum covering their concerns about irregularities allegedly found in electoral rolls, calls for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to step down, and the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of voter lists.

An email carried the CJI's reply to both leaders. Overlapping jurisdiction presented a procedural obstacle, given that the matters outlined in their petition were already under active consideration by the Supreme Court. Jurisdiction over the day-to-day workings of the executive branch, the bench observed, fell outside the boundaries of its administrative authority. A notice went out to the leaders that the courts stood open to them as an avenue for asserting their fundamental rights through established legal channels.

Claims of improper deletions from voter rolls and interference with those rolls during the Special Intensive Revision exercise form the basis of the Opposition's demonstrations. Opposition parties have called for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to answer for the Election Commission of India's conduct, contending the body has shown partiality toward the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Documented objections from Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi — filed on at least 14 separate occasions across a span of ten months, with the majority of those dissents tied to decisions surrounding the SIR exercise — drew fresh attention as the dispute deepened. Internal deliberations within the Election Commission, the body has noted, routinely accommodate divergent viewpoints as part of how decisions take shape. The body has additionally maintained that its directives rest on a lawful foundation and adhere to the procedural steps laid out in the relevant legislation.

Four demands have been put forward by the Opposition: an end to what it describes as electoral fraud, the removal of the Chief Election Commissioner from office, suspension of the SIR exercise, and a reversion to paper-based voting. The Congress, which labelled the planned action "Chalo Delhi – March for Democracy," set a 1.30 pm gathering point at the Connaught Place–Barakhamba Road junction in New Delhi, while Rahul Gandhi indicated that youth, Opposition parties, and civil society organisations were among those expected to join the procession toward the Supreme Court.

Gandhi alleged that protesters gathered in Delhi on Saturday had been subjected to physical attacks by both police personnel and BJP affiliates. Opposition leaders, Kharge indicated, had sought the Chief Justice's involvement to address their apprehensions about how the electoral process was being conducted. Kharge also directed allegations of fomenting unrest at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Kharge attributed the police deployment and detentions that took place on Saturday to what he described as the government's unease over the momentum building behind the protest.

A Friday audience with President Droupadi Murmu preceded the action the Opposition went on to take. Officers from the law enforcement services intercepted a group of MPs belonging to the Opposition at Vijay Chowk, New Delhi, during the earlier part of that day. A group of MPs held a sit-in demonstration at the same time as ten of their number made their way to Rashtrapati Bhavan for an audience with the President.

A group of representatives urged the President to step in, calling for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to be removed in connection with what they described as irregularities in the electoral process. At the close of the meeting, Opposition leaders reported that President Murmu had asked them to furnish evidence underpinning their allegations and had given her undertaking to look into the concerns they raised.

Speaking afterwards, Rahul Gandhi expressed that he found it notable the President had neither addressed nor contested the allegations put forward by the Opposition. The Opposition announced plans to present the President with documentation it described as evidence of vote theft, with its representative asserting that awareness of the material extended throughout the country.

Tensions between the Opposition and the Election Commission have centred on disagreements over electoral rolls and the conduct of the SIR exercise. Opposition parties have called for reforms to the electoral process and for the poll body's leadership to be held accountable, while the Commission holds that its rulings are grounded in law. No ruling addressing the particular demands contained in the proposed memorandum — those tied to the planned march — had been handed down by the Supreme Court as of the time of reporting.