Speaking at a gathering in New Delhi on Monday, KC Venugopal — Congress's general secretary for organisational affairs and a representative of the INDIA bloc — described the planned march to the Supreme Court as a stand for democratic principles, while opposition members called on the public to join the demonstration scheduled for October 12.

In remarks to a news channel ahead of the march in the national capital, Venugopal described the protest as having grown into a wider effort to protect democratic values, calling on the public to join. "This is not only an agitation, but it has become a movement," he said.

Proponents describe the movement as one aimed at upholding the nation's foundational democratic principles. Rahul Gandhi, who leads the opposition, issued a broad appeal urging people across the country to stand up for democratic values, expressing confidence that the people of India would turn out to participate the following day.

Venugopal added that the opposition accepted the Chief Justice's decision not to receive its delegation, while affirming that the group's plan to proceed toward the Supreme Court remained unchanged. He noted that the Chief Justice's position left open the path of delivering a petition directly by hand or through the standard legal channel, and that while the decision warranted respect, there remained a firm intention to bring the matter before the Supreme Court the following day.

A formal approach by opposition bloc leaders to hand a representation to Chief Justice Surya Kant — covering what those leaders characterised as irregularities in the electoral process — was not accommodated. The court indicated that the matter was already before it and that any substantive challenge would need to arrive by way of a properly filed petition. Opposition leaders received the rejection notice by email, along with a written account of the reasoning behind it, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Arrests of protesters at a rally in the capital — where demonstrators had gathered to call for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to step down — preceded this development by one day. Opposition figures raised objections to the police action and urged members of the public to take part in the march.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor alleged that the Election Commission of India had disregarded established legal provisions, and announced that opposition leaders would march in protest, calling for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar from his post and a halt to the Special Intensive Revision exercise. Tharoor also invoked the Constitution's guarantee that every Indian citizen holds the right to vote, to form independent political judgements, and to shape their own future.

Reports indicate that approximately 130 million voters have been removed from electoral rolls, a development that critics attribute to actions by the Election Commission that they contend fall outside established legal and procedural guidelines.

In a video posted to X, Tharoor laid out the Congress party's plan to approach the Supreme Court the next day, seeking four distinct remedies: suspension of the Special Intensive Revision, nullification of the rules governing the voter roll changes, restoration of electoral rights for those who lost them, and removal of the Chief Election Commissioner from his post. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi separately urged young people, opposition parties, and civil society groups to participate in the march and urged them not to yield to fear, invoking the two-word Hindi phrase "Daro mat."

Gandhi objected to the police response on Saturday, describing the young demonstrators as having gathered without hostility and with a disposition of goodwill rather than grievance. Reports indicate that those present were subjected to physical force from both police officers and BJP-affiliated individuals. He described the current state of affairs as contrary to what he believed the country ought to be.

Following his release from preventive detention, Abhijeet Dipke told reporters that he had not signed any bond restricting future protests and that he intended to take to the streets again. Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar addressed the protests, noting that the individual had publicly stated a willingness to face imprisonment any number of times.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta attributed disorder during protests in the capital to the Congress party, the Aam Aadmi Party, Left-aligned parties, and several other organisations. Officers from Delhi Police handled the incident in a manner that, according to Gupta, drew praise for protecting bystanders from harm.