The Congress on Sunday called for a march to the Supreme Court on Monday afternoon to meet Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and submit a memorandum to him amid protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. The CJI, however, declined the request for a meeting.
In his reply to the Opposition party, the CJI raised four points, it is learnt. First, he said that the grievances the Opposition was seeking to raise, including the issue of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and those related to the CEC, were pending before the court. Second, the CJI is learnt to have pointed out that in the Constitutional scheme, the court does not have the powers to take cognisance of such grievances on the “administrative side”.
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The CJI told the Opposition party that the court has the power of judicial review under Article 32 and other powers, and that if any petition highlighting these grievances is filed on Monday, it will be taken up for hearing the following day, when the already pending matters are listed for hearing. He also reiterated the court’s commitment to protecting the fundamental rights of citizens and that its doors were always open to them.
Hours earlier, Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi issued a “Chalo Dilli” call, urging students, civil society organisations, and Opposition parties to join a march to the Supreme Court, where an Opposition delegation was supposed to meet the CJI. The march is scheduled to begin at 1.30 pm from the Connaught Place-Barakhamba Road junction and end at the Supreme Court, around 2 km away.
In a video message, Gandhi said: “Tomorrow, we will march to the Supreme Court as Indians, united beyond party, gender, caste, community and state. The youth, all Opposition parties, civil society groups, all those who believe in democracy and stand by the Constitution of India, will walk with us.”
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“We will submit a memorandum to the CJI on behalf of the nation, demanding an end to vote chori (theft), halting of the SIR and the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar,” Gandhi said.
Yesterday, the nation’s young came out in Delhi to peacefully protest. They came with love in their hearts, not hatred or anger. They were beaten, both by cops and BJP goons.
This is not the India we want.
Tomorrow, we will march to the Supreme Court as Indians, united beyond party, gender, caste, community and state.
Youth, all opposition parties, civil society groups, all those who believe in democracy and stand by the Constitution of India, will walk with us.
We will submit a memorandum to the Chief Justice on behalf of the nation, demanding an end to vote chori, halting of SIR and the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar.
Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Ajit Doval and Mohan Bhagwat cannot silence India’s voice. These cowards cannot intimidate us. They will have to step aside.
We will march together, with love, brotherhood and patriotism.
Daro mat.
Tomorrow, all of India will march to the Supreme Court.
कल दिल्ली में देश का युवा शांतिपूर्ण विरोध के लिए सड़कों पर उतरा। उनके दिलों में नफ़रत या गुस्सा नहीं, मोहब्बत थी। लेकिन उन्हें पुलिस और BJP के गुंडों, दोनों ने पीटा।
ऐसा भारत हम नहीं चाहते।
कल, सोमवार 12 अक्टूबर को, हम भारतीय होने के नाते सुप्रीम कोर्ट तक मार्च करेंगे। पार्टी, महिला-पुरुष, जाति, समुदाय और राज्य की हर दीवार से ऊपर उठकर, हम सब एक साथ चलेंगे।
देश का युवा, तमाम विपक्षी दल, सिविल सोसाइटी और लोकतंत्र में विश्वास रखने वाले, भारत के संविधान के साथ खड़े सभी लोग हमारे साथ चलेंगे।
हम देश की ओर से मुख्य न्यायाधीश को एक ज्ञापन सौंपेंगे। हमारी माँग है – वोट चोरी बंद हो, SIR पर रोक लगे और ज्ञानेश कुमार इस्तीफ़ा दें।
नरेंद्र मोदी, अमित शाह, अजित डोभाल और मोहन भागवत भारत की आवाज़ को दबा नहीं सकते। ये कायर हमें डरा नहीं सकते। इन्हें पीछे हटना ही होगा।
हम सब साथ चलेंगे – मोहब्बत, भाईचारे और देशभक्ति के साथ।डरो मत।
कल पूरा भारत सुप्रीम कोर्ट तक मार्च करेगा।
#ChaloDilli
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 11, 2026
The LoP urged people not to be scared. “These cowards cannot intimidate us. They will have to step aside. We will march together, with love, brotherhood, and patriotism,” he said.
Gandhi said the nation’s youth, with “love in their hearts”, had hit the streets in Delhi to protest peacefully, but were “beaten by the police and BJP goons”. “This is not the India we want,” he said.
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After two days of police crackdown to stop the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and Left student groups from gathering at Jantar Mantar in central Delhi, the Opposition is expected to mobilise Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), and Left workers from neighbouring states for the march, sources said. The Opposition is trying to ensure that the march is larger than the protests it held in the national Capital over the past week.
‘Will continue fight’
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said earlier in the day that the Opposition can’t “demand anything from him (CJI)” and only wants to place its “concerns before him with folded hands and request his intervention”.
Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of creating “chaos across the country”, Kharge said, “An undeclared Emergency is prevailing, and we will continue to fight against it.”
Apart from Kharge and Gandhi, MPs from all INDIA bloc parties are expected to join the protest. Other senior leaders likely to attend include Mamata All India Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, SP president Akhilesh Yadav, CPI’s P Sandosh Kumar, and CPI(M)’s M A Baby and John Brittas, sources said.
‘Dangerous signs for Centre’
Trinamool’s Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien said the crackdown on protesters and the detention of journalists covering the protests were a “cause for concern” for the government.
“We are seeing journalists being picked up by police from outside the Press Club of India. These are dangerous signs for this government. I express gratitude to the young people of India and ‘cockroaches’ who have got this going,” O’Brien told The Indian Express.
Senior Congress leader K C Venugopal also criticised Delhi Police, saying that every time one thought it “couldn’t hit new lows, it went lower”.
“Detaining and assaulting reporters from agencies, Malayalam journalists, independent bloggers and YouTubers, especially women, to hide your own crimes, is completely unforgivable,” he said.
Venugopal accused the police of turning “the entire city into a torture chamber where innocent citizens exercising their fundamental rights are being chased, thrashed and detained”.
He alleged that vigilante groups aligned with the ruling party were being allowed to assault protesters under police protection.
On October 9, INDIA bloc MPs had met President Droupadi Murmu to raise their concerns about SIR and the Election Commission (EC). After the meeting, Gandhi said the President did not “deny” the Opposition’s allegations of “vote chori” and irregularities in the EC’s handling of the SIR. INDIA bloc MPs had staged protests in Delhi in the preceding two days, too, demanding Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.