New Delhi (Gurpreet Singh): A massive opposition demonstration marching toward the Supreme Court under the leadership of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was halted by security forces on Bhagwan Das Road on Monday, approximately 600 metres from the top court. Despite the barricades restraining the main rally, Gandhi and senior INDIA bloc leaders reached the Supreme Court premises later in the evening, where the Congress legal team completed formal procedural requirements for a petition challenging the Election Commission of India.
The legal action positions Rahul Gandhi as the lead petitioner contesting the functioning of the poll body. The formal filing followed Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant’s refusal to grant an administrative audience to Gandhi and Rajya Sabha Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge. The CJI had declined the meeting request on grounds that the matter remains sub judice and that issues surrounding electoral processes must be addressed through formal judicial petitions rather than administrative representations.
Central Delhi witnessed widespread traffic disruptions as thousands of supporters assembled for the march. Concurrently, representatives of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), including Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, approached the Parliament Street Police Station demanding a sanctioned date for a demonstration against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The CJP issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the Delhi Police to allocate a date for their demonstration at Jantar Mantar.
The confrontation follows days of heavy security clampdowns across the national capital. Over the weekend, authorities mounted an extensive operation, deploying over 30,000 security personnel and placing multiple layers of barricades across Lutyens’ Delhi, resulting in the preventive detention of more than 7,000 demonstrators, including four former chief ministers and CJP activist Abhijeet Dipke. Protests persisted into Sunday, leading to over 200 additional detentions near Jantar Mantar.
The opposition’s escalated agitation against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar centres on alleged electoral irregularities and contentious decisions under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Public scrutiny deepened following reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over 10 months regarding directives allegedly passed without full panel concurrence. The Election Commission has maintained that all panel decisions, including those concerning the SIR, were taken with complete unanimity.
