Plans by the Congress party, the CJP, and a number of INDIA bloc members to hold protests, marches, and broader political mobilisation over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls have placed Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at the centre of renewed opposition pressure. Opposition figures portrayed the movement as a defence of democratic institutions, a framing that both the government and electoral authorities have pushed back against.
Party officials from Congress announced that demonstrations in the national capital would be sustained by their organisation alongside allied opposition groups and youth bodies, with calls for accountability over what they described as irregularities in the revision of voter lists. Congress leader K.C. Venugopal, a senior figure within the party's national hierarchy, was identified as a central participant in the discussions. Venugopal characterised the agitation as a "second freedom struggle," while opposition parties said they would hold together in contesting what they view as pressures on democratic processes.
On October 11, a protest call by the CJP prompted authorities to put tightened security measures in place across Delhi, a backdrop against which the current wave of mobilisation has taken shape. Barriers were erected across stretches of central Delhi's main thoroughfares, while officers took up positions at a number of key points throughout the area.
Police took into custody those who had assembled or were moving toward Jantar Mantar and other locations, while multiple student and youth groups contended that the restrictions placed on their gatherings went beyond what was warranted. Arrests of activists and opposition supporters took place on October 11 amid street protests against the chief electoral commissioner. Detentions were carried out against student leaders and activists drawn from organisations including SFI, AISA, and allied groups, news reports indicated, as those individuals moved toward a march through central Delhi.
CJP leaders vowed to keep their protest going, saying the movement would hold its ground until their demands were addressed. CPI(M)'s Rajya Sabha representative John Brittas claimed that security personnel had physically handled him roughly during the course of the demonstrations. Brittas reported that he had been physically harmed while held in detention and called for an independent body to examine what had taken place. A number of opposition figures voiced objections to the incident, characterising the handling of dissent as needlessly combative.
Accountability for the arrests and movement curbs linked to the protests was called for by the Supreme Court, which convened on a Sunday to demand formal responses. Bench orders barred the unlawful holding of those gathered in peaceful demonstration, while authorities received directions to keep both public transport and internet access running normally, within whatever constraints the maintenance of order might require.
Rahul Gandhi, who holds the position of Leader of Opposition, put forward a proposal for Congress members, INDIA bloc leaders, and civil society representatives to march together to the Supreme Court and present a memorandum addressing claims of electoral fraud and concerns about revisions to voter rolls. Opposition leaders described the march as a vehicle for pursuing court intervention and pressing their call for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to be held accountable.
Detentions of protesters and opposition activists in Delhi over anti-CEC demonstrations, carried out the previous day, preceded the call for the march by roughly twenty-four hours. Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal put forward the party's position on the matter. Venugopal indicated that planned protests would press forward in spite of security restrictions, with the opposition framing its campaign as a defence of democratic institutions.
Plans attributed to opposition parties ahead of the Supreme Court march centred on projecting a united front while also intensifying calls directed at the Election Commission and the Centre to address concerns about how the electoral roll revision process had been handled.
