Tens of thousands of protesters gathered near the Mandi House in New Delhi on Monday for the ‘March for Democracy’ called by the INDIA bloc towards the Supreme Court, demanding the resignation of chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and large scale voter deletions.
I have brought my entire family here today. “We have been living in Delhi for decades now but my sister’s vote was deleted from the voter’s list. We are all angry. Many young students have been detained. We are here to support Rahul ji. We need someone to make Gyanesh resign. Why is the CJI not meeting the opposition leaders? Why is there so much hesitation in taking action against the CEC? It looks like the entire election commission is corrupt but we are not going to tolerate this. Students dressed up as batman, superman and even Raavan showed up to the protest with posters, whistles and drums to show solidarity with the leaders. Congress chief Kharge also wore a batman mask to support the students. Bora was seen marching with Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. People cheered as she was later seen with the Gandhis, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav, Telangana CM Revath Reddy and All India Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra. In the last few days, the Delhi police have detained Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress, INDIA bloc and Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders and protesters in New Delhi, lodged cases against them and detained them for hours. “We don’t want the government to ignore us. It has been doing so by not allowing us to protest, which is making us even angrier. Baby, CPI leader D. Raja, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Mahua Majhi, NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule and Indian Union Muslim League leader E.T. Mohammed Basheer.
Earlier reporting noted: The registry has also pointed out a shortfall of Rs 220 in the prescribed court fee, according to the defects notified on October 12, the day the petition was filed under diary number 64196/2026.
We all want to vote and have a fair say in deciding our leaders,” he said. Several protesters said they were surprised that they were allowed to assemble for hours without being detained by the police. There is a trust deficit, and if the government does not take action against the CEC, it will only grow bigger,” he said.
Earlier reporting noted: The objections include the naming of individuals as respondents, failure to attach a copy of an earlier judgment, the absence of vakalatnamas from nine petitioners and an illegible copy of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s identity card. Earlier reporting noted: Besides Gandhi and Kharge, the petition has been filed by Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, CPI(M) leader M.A.
After marching from Mandi House to Barakhamba Road (towards CP) and back to Mandi House and Bhagwan Das Road, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge along with other Opposition leaders filed a petition at the apex court regarding SIR irregularities. Lakshya Singh, 21, a Congress worker said he has been protesting against the CEC for weeks.
