Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi directed public criticism at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday over the handling of protests in Delhi by police. The opposition's Lok Sabha floor leader claimed that young protesters had been subjected to physical assaults carried out by both police personnel and BJP party workers.

In a Sunday post, Gandhi described the gathering as orderly and non-confrontational, and contended that authorities had moved to suppress the demonstrators' ability to express their views, noting that the country's youth had assembled in Delhi the previous day to register their opposition without resorting to disorder. He stated that people had made their way there peacefully. He further alleged that individuals sustained injuries from assaults carried out by police officers and by members affiliated with the BJP.

Gandhi announced plans for a march to the Supreme Court on Monday, with opposition parties and civil society groups set to take part. He stated that participants would deliver a memorandum to the Chief Justice of India calling for an end to what he described as electoral malpractice, a halt to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, and the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar from his post. Gandhi added that the demonstration aimed to bring together youth, opposition parties, civil society groups, and others who support democratic principles and constitutional values across divisions of party, gender, caste, community, and state.

Gandhi also stated that Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Ajit Doval, and Mohan Bhagwat would not, in his view, be able to suppress public expression on these matters. He concluded his address by telling opponents that they lacked the power to instil fear in his ranks and would be compelled to move out of the way, signing off with the Hindi phrase "Daro mat."

The announcement followed a day in which police in Delhi had blocked supporters of the Constitution Justice Platform (CJP) and opposition figures from assembling at Jantar Mantar, with a party leader declaring that the Supreme Court would draw a nationwide march the following day. Arrests were carried out across several sites, taking in upwards of 7,000 people, among them Abhijeet Dipke, who founded the CJP, alongside organisation leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka.

Four leaders who had previously served as chief ministers — Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee, Pinarayi Vijayan, and Manik Sarkar — were taken into custody when they moved toward the demonstration. A force of upwards of 30,000 officers and paramilitary troops took up positions throughout the capital as part of a broad security operation.

CJP leaders were released from detention on Sunday and announced their intention to extend the protest movement beyond Delhi to other parts of the country. Das told reporters that the administration had fostered conditions resembling a state of emergency, and that people who took part in the demonstrations had been held without legal representation and had their mobile devices confiscated. He added that the demonstrations were continuing.

Das stated that demonstrations were planned not only in Delhi but throughout the nation, and that the movement would persist until those responsible were held to account. Calls for Kumar's removal have come from both the CJP and opposition parties, who have pointed to questions surrounding how the Election Commission has operated and the conduct of the SIR exercise.