Congress president and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge is scheduled to host a second consecutive lunch meeting for INDIA bloc MPs at 1.45 pm on Thursday at Moets K-14 in Connaught Place, Delhi. The venue is located near Jantar Mantar, where Opposition MPs have been staging protests, and the Election Commission office.
Security was strengthened across central Delhi ahead of the Opposition’s planned demonstrations. Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force personnel were deployed in large numbers, while barricades were placed and several areas were cordoned off. Security arrangements were also made at Raj Ghat, where Congress and other Opposition MPs were expected to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.
The Opposition is demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The parties have also sought Kumar’s removal in connection with their allegations of “vote theft”.
Opposition leaders have sought a meeting with President Droupadi Murmu to raise the SIR issue and demand Kumar’s removal. A delegation of 15 leaders was proposed, while 10 members have been permitted to meet the President. Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee is expected to be part of the delegation.
Delhi Police has registered another FIR against Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in connection with Wednesday’s protest. The case concerns allegations of assaulting police personnel and obstructing government work. Several other Congress leaders and workers who took part in the demonstration have also been named.
Police said the allegations and the role of those involved were being examined. As many as 91 people, including MPs and other leaders, were detained during Wednesday’s protest. Rahul Gandhi had led INDIA bloc leaders in a street demonstration before being detained again along with several MPs.
A confrontation was also reported outside the lunch venue in Connaught Place between BJP and Congress supporters. A man who identified himself as a BJP supporter and an admirer of Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged that Congress workers assaulted him after he raised pro-BJP slogans. The man, who said he was from Srinagar in Kashmir, claimed he had not made any remarks against Rahul Gandhi.
CPI MP P Sandosh Kumar said the Opposition would intensify its campaign and continue it until Gyanesh Kumar resigned. He said the decision had been taken at a meeting of INDIA bloc leaders on September 30 and that the protest included all Opposition parties, as well as the Biju Janata Dal, which is not formally part of the alliance.
Kumar said most MPs remained in Delhi and would decide the next phase of the movement. He added that youth and student organisations were also likely to join. According to him, the campaign, which began in 2025, had gained further momentum and the Opposition remained united behind it.
Samajwadi Party MP Rajeev Rai was scheduled to represent his party at Kharge’s luncheon. The meeting was planned as Opposition parties prepared for a larger protest against the Chief Election Commissioner.
In Telangana, Congress MLA Naveen Yadav alleged that notices linked to anomalies and mapping discrepancies had been issued to around 1 crore voters. He said the party opposed the deletion of names of genuine voters who had submitted the required forms, arguing that “minor clerical errors” should not be used as a basis for removing them from the electoral rolls.
Yadav demanded that the status of the affected voters be confirmed. He also said Congress and Rahul Gandhi were seeking Kumar’s removal to safeguard democracy and protect genuine voters.
The office of the Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer announced measures intended to ensure that eligible voters were included in the rolls and that ineligible names were removed. Registration camps were being held at colleges and universities from October 5 to 9, while Booth Level Officers were conducting house-to-house verification.
Special camps will also be held at polling stations on October 10 and 11 for eligible voters who were unavailable during house visits. Form 6 can be submitted during the claims and objections period until October 12, either offline or through the Election Commission’s voter services portal and the ECINET app. The Chief Electoral Officer’s office said eligible residents who provide the required documents would be considered for inclusion.
Protests were held in several states. In Patna, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav led an INDIA bloc march towards Raj Bhavan as part of a statewide agitation against Kumar. In Jammu, Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders and workers demonstrated against the Chief Election Commissioner and the BJP.
Congress, NCP and Left party leaders and workers organised a joint demonstration in Nagpur, also demanding Kumar’s resignation. In Hyderabad, Telangana Congress held a ‘Chalo Lokh Bhavan’ march from the Indira Gandhi statue to Raj Bhavan in Somajiguda.
Telangana Minister Mohammed Azharuddin also backed the protest and called for Kumar’s resignation. He criticised the arrests and alleged manhandling of Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and MPs during the Delhi demonstration, saying that the protest had been peaceful and that the Constitution guaranteed the right to protest.
In Bengaluru, the CJP organised a large demonstration at Freedom Park seeking Kumar’s resignation. YouTuber Dhruv Rathee and actor Prakash Raj attended the protest. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke had introduced Rathee as a surprise guest in a video shared on Wednesday night, ahead of the demonstration.
BJP leader Pradeep Bhandari criticised Rahul Gandhi over the Opposition’s street protest. He alleged that Gandhi pushed women police personnel and threatened men in uniform, and accused the Congress of provoking anarchy. Bhandari questioned the need for street mobilisation when the Election Commission-related matter was before the Supreme Court and asked whether the Congress lacked faith in the judicial process.
The Opposition’s campaign followed allegations of irregularities in the SIR process and reported differences among election commissioners over certain decisions. The parties have maintained that the electoral roll revision could exclude genuine voters.