KC Venugopal, serving as Congress General Secretary (Organisation), announced that the INDIA bloc intends to take its case to the Supreme Court over what the alliance describes as threats to democratic principles. In an interview with a television news outlet, he put forward the view that the planned gathering in New Delhi on October 12 amounted to more than a protest, describing it as a collective effort to defend democratic values.
Venugopal urged the public to take part in that effort, describing the protection of the country's democratic foundations as a responsibility shared by all. He pointed to the breadth of support behind the movement, noting that opposition leader Rahul Gandhi had issued a broad appeal for people across the country to stand in defence of democratic governance. Venugopal predicted that the Indian public would turn out in large numbers the following day, a statement his party framed as evidence of broad cross-party alignment among opposition groups.
Reports indicate that the Chief Justice of India, Justice Surya Kant, declined to grant an audience to INDIA bloc leaders who had sought to place before him material relating to alleged irregularities in the electoral process. A filing through the formal petition process was put forward as the appropriate route, given that the matter had already come before the courts for judicial review. Opposition leaders received an email laying out the reasoning behind the decision not to proceed with the meeting.
Venugopal noted that the opposition, while respectful of the Chief Justice's position, intends to proceed with its march to the Supreme Court, adding that the Chief Justice's decision not to meet with them has left the group with the option of either delivering a petition by hand or pursuing the standard legal channel. He told reporters that while the decision would be respected, the plan to march to the Supreme Court the following day remained in place.
Arrests of protesters at the country's seat of government preceded this development, those demonstrators having gathered to press for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar from his post. Leaders from opposition parties voiced objections to the conduct of police forces while renewing their appeal for the public to take part in the planned march.
Tharoor, a Congress MP, contended that the Election Commission of India had fallen short of its statutory obligations, and announced that the opposition intended to carry out a march calling for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to step down without delay. Tharoor argued that policies pursued by the Election Commission had infringed on the rights of a substantial portion of India's population.
A video uploaded to X served as the platform through which Tharoor laid out the opposition's stated aims: obtaining accountability, halting the process he labelled the "Special Intensive Revision," and reinstating the franchise of voters he contended had been stripped of it. He argued that the vote, the ballot, and the full machinery of political participation ought to be open to every citizen without obstruction.
Rahul Gandhi, who holds the post of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, urged youth groups, opposition parties, and civil society organisations to come together under the march's "Daro mat" — meaning "Do not fear" — banner, while also noting that those who had taken part in the demonstrations had done so without aggression or ill intent, even as they encountered police action. Gandhi put out an appeal for civil society to play an active role in defending democratic values.
Dipke, affiliated with the Cockroach Janta Party as an activist, indicated that a prior detention had not altered his commitment to carrying on with the protests. Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar described the opposition's turnout as both limited in number and unlikely to last. In a statement addressing the unrest, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta placed responsibility for the disorder on opposition parties, while extending her support to Delhi Police for their handling of crowd control.