After CJP, Opposition calls for protest, march to Supreme Court to demand action against SIR

Opposition parties are planning a major protest in Delhi on Monday against the Election Commission and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The programme includes a march to the Supreme Court. INDIA bloc leaders describe the march as unprecedented because political delegations have not previously marched to the apex court, according to a senior leader quoted in the article.

The opposition is demanding Kumar’s resignation. Congress general secretary K C Venugopal called the protest a response to what he described as nationwide “Vote Chori” orchestrated by the Modi-Shah regime. A delegation of senior opposition leaders also plans to submit a memorandum to the Chief Justice of India.

The protest follows a crackdown on a Cockroach Janta Party-led movement at Jantar Mantar. Opposition leaders say they will continue mobilising despite detentions, police restrictions and a heavy security presence. They want public pressure and court intervention over the SIR process and the Election Commission’s actions.

A Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, is a comprehensive review of electoral rolls. Election authorities use it to verify voter records, add eligible people, correct details and remove duplicate, ineligible or outdated entries. It is more extensive than a routine update because it involves a broad rechecking of the roll.

The key mechanism is verification. Officials examine existing entries and may seek information or documents from voters, while allowing claims and objections. The purpose is to make the roll accurate before elections. The process can matter greatly because an error may prevent an eligible person from voting or leave an incorrect name on the list.

In this article, opposition parties are challenging the SIR and asking the Supreme Court to expedite related cases. The article does not provide procedural details about the revision. It presents SIR as part of a wider dispute over the Election Commission and alleged suppression of dissent.

The protest movement had reached the scale of thousands of participants. The article describes it as a Cockroach Janta Party-led movement demanding action against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Its size and political significance led opposition parties to organise a wider INDIA bloc mobilisation for Monday.

Delhi’s security response was extensive. Security forces turned central Delhi into a “fortress” and imposed a clampdown intended to stop protesters. The article also reports detentions and police restrictions around protest locations, including Jantar Mantar and South Avenue. These measures affected opposition leaders as well as ordinary demonstrators.

The response has become part of the political dispute. Opposition leaders accuse the government of suppressing dissent and say arrests, detentions and force will not stop the movement. They now plan a march to the Supreme Court and want its intervention in cases involving SIR and the Election Commission.

Opposition leaders are taking their demands to the Supreme Court to seek faster judicial consideration and intervention. They say the dispute over electoral-roll revision and the Election Commission threatens democratic accountability. The planned memorandum to the Chief Justice of India is intended to place their concerns directly before the court.

The cases they want expedited concern the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and the Election Commission. Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said INDIA MPs, leaders, workers and citizens would join the march, while senior leaders would submit the memorandum. The march is described as unprecedented for a political delegation.

The court approach comes after police detained protesters and opposition figures in Delhi. The opposition says administrative restrictions have not resolved the underlying questions. By seeking quicker hearings, it hopes the judiciary will examine the SIR dispute and EC-related matters while protests continue.

Police restrictions immediately limited where protesters and opposition leaders could gather. Security forces blocked movement around central Delhi and detained people involved in the demonstrations. The measures prevented some leaders from reaching planned protest locations and intensified the confrontation between the government and the opposition.

Mamata Banerjee said she was detained in a police van and taken to Dwarka after holding a silent protest outside TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee’s residence. She said police stopped her from going to Jantar Mantar and objected to her poster. CPI(M) general secretary MA Baby said Pinarayi Vijayan and others were confined to police vehicles for hours.

The detentions did not end the protest campaign. Banerjee said she would remain involved in Monday’s demonstration, while opposition leaders promised to continue raising their voices. Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi said arrests, detention and police force would not make the opposition back down.

The opposition’s response extends beyond rallies and marches. INDIA bloc leaders have agreed to approach the Supreme Court and ask it to expedite cases connected with the Special Intensive Revision and the Election Commission. This gives their campaign a formal legal and institutional channel alongside public demonstrations.

The planned mechanism is a delegation of senior leaders submitting a memorandum to the Chief Justice of India. K C Venugopal said the delegation would seek the CJI’s intervention in what opposition parties call a crisis. Leaders are also publicly demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, making institutional accountability another part of their strategy.

These steps follow an INDIA bloc meeting chaired by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. The bloc is combining parliamentary leadership, public appeals and court-related action. Its next planned move is Monday’s protest march in Delhi, where leaders intend to press both their political and judicial demands.

An impartial Election Commission matters because it oversees the rules and administration of elections. Its credibility depends on being trusted to act fairly rather than favouring a government or party. An accurate electoral roll matters for the same reason: it should correctly identify eligible voters and support equal participation.

The key mechanism is the connection between the voter list and the ballot. If an eligible person is missing, that person may be unable to vote. If records are inaccurate or duplicated, confidence in the result can suffer. A credible election therefore requires both neutral administration and reliable voter information.

The article places these principles at the centre of the opposition’s campaign. Leaders link the SIR dispute and Election Commission concerns to the survival of Indian democracy and the Constitution. They are seeking court action, demanding Kumar’s resignation and continuing protests despite detentions and restrictions.