KC Venugopal, General Secretary of the Congress party, described the INDIA bloc's planned march to the Supreme Court on Monday as an effort to uphold democratic values and principles, as opposition leaders urged citizens to take part in the October 12 demonstration.

In an interview with a television news outlet, Venugopal described the October 12 march in the national capital as part of a wider effort to protect democratic institutions, calling on the public to join in and characterising the protest as having grown into something larger than a single agitation. Proponents of the movement have described it as one aimed at upholding the foundational principles of governance on which the country operates.

Rahul Gandhi, who leads the opposition, called on the public to stand in defence of the country's democratic institutions, telling those gathered that the people of India would come out and take part the following day.

Venugopal added that the opposition held the Chief Justice of India's position in regard, accepting the decision not to receive its delegation, while affirming that the march toward the Supreme Court would go forward. He noted that the Chief Justice of India had chosen not to arrange a meeting, leaving open the avenue of submitting a petition directly by hand or through the standard legal route, and that the march to the Supreme Court the following day remained the intended course of action.

When leaders from the INDIA bloc sought a face-to-face meeting with the Chief Justice of India, Justice Surya Kant, to hand over a representation concerning what they described as electoral irregularities, the request was turned away on the grounds that the matter already sat before the courts and any grievance would need to be brought through a formal petition. A written notice laying out the reasons behind the rejection was forwarded to opposition leaders, people familiar with the situation said.

This development came one day after arrests of protesters at a rally in the country's capital, where demonstrators had gathered to call for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to step down. Opposition figures condemned the police operation and urged the public to take part in the march.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor levelled allegations against the Election Commission of India over what he described as disregard for electoral law. Opposition leaders announced plans to march in support of removing Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar from his post and halting the Special Intensive Revision exercise, with Tharoor invoking constitutional protections for citizens' voting rights, political autonomy, and control over their own futures.

Reports indicate that approximately 130 million voters have been removed from electoral rolls by the Election Commission, a development that has drawn scrutiny over whether the body adhered to established rules and procedures.

In a video shared on X, Tharoor outlined the Congress party's plans to bring a petition before the Supreme Court the following day, seeking a halt to the Special Intensive Revision process, the annulment of the rules under which voter rolls were altered, the restoration of voting rights to those affected, and the removal of the Chief Election Commissioner from office.

Separately, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi called on young people, opposition parties, and civil society organisations to join the march, using the rallying call of "Daro mat." Gandhi characterised the police action against the demonstration as unwarranted, maintaining that the young attendees had assembled peaceably. Reports indicate that those present sustained physical harm at the hands of both law enforcement personnel and members of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Gandhi expressed the view that the country had taken a direction at odds with what he believed it should be.

Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar characterised the protests as unworthy of concern. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta attributed the unrest in the capital to the Congress party, the Aam Aadmi Party, Left-aligned groups, and several other organisations, and commended Delhi Police for the way officers managed the situation and kept the public safe.