Published Oct 12, 2026 | 8:39 AM ⚊ Updated Oct 12, 2026 | 2:27 PM
Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi holds the tricolour while standing atop a police barricade. (Credit: INC)
The Congress’s ‘Chalo Delhi’ march to the Supreme Court on Monday, 12 October, continues its demand for the sacking of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Other INDIA bloc leaders are also part of the march.
AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal had earlier directed its MPs, MLAs, MLCs, district and city district Congress committee presidents, Pradesh Congress Committee office-bearers and senior leaders to reach the national capital by Monday morning “without fail”.
Over 30,000 police and paramilitary personnel were deployed across the capital in anticipation of the protests.
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Sunday had declined a request from Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for a meeting on Monday.
Speaking to the media on Monday, Justice Surya Kant said he had responded to Gandhi’s letter on Sunday night, explaining why he would be unable to attend the meeting, but declined to comment on the contents of his reply.
“I received his letter yesterday. I replied to it last night itself. I have given some reasons in it, on the basis of which I have expressed my inability to attend the meeting,” he said.
“The doors of the Supreme Court are open to everyone. Anyone can file a petition, whether they are an ordinary citizen, an honourable member of Parliament, or a member of any elected body. Every citizen of India has that right. They can approach us, and we will hear their grievances in accordance with the law and the legal framework. We will certainly ensure that whoever is entitled to a particular right receives it.”
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Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi told the Prime Minister ahead of INDIA bloc's march to the Supreme Court that "200 officials of your government are in touch with us and informing us, including those in the ED, CBI, Foreign Ministry...", indicating that the Opposition knows what is happening within the government.
His statement comes on a day when Delhi is seeing the biggest mobilisation of Opposition members in the campaign against Gyanesh Kumar, the controversial SIR, and the government.
The protest comes on a day when the government has denotified Jantar Mantar as a protest site, drawing widespread criticism. As we reported earlier in the blog, three other alternate sites have been named.
Visuals from Connaught Place, Delhi, show heavy police force deployed, as the INDIA bloc is set to start the Chalo Dilli March.
VIDEO | INDIA bloc Chalo Dilli March: Visuals from Connaught Place.
(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/d8jp61yd2p) https://t.co/QDLY9csAAX
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 12, 2026
Jantar Mantar has been denotified as a designated protest site, a Delhi Police circular on Monday said.
Delhi Police have named Ramlila Maidan, the Burari Ground and the CBD Ground.
Detailed and revised standard operating procedures (SOPs) for protests at the three designated venues will be shared soon, Cops announced.
"We had written a letter to the Chief Justice of India. He directed us to file a petition. Now, leaders of the INDIA alliance will march to the Supreme Court against 'vote theft' and file the petition. In this fight to protect democracy and the Constitution, fellow citizens, let us march step by step with us. Reach Connaught Place and become part of this march. If you can't come, raise your voice from wherever you are!" Rahul Gandhi posts before the beginning of the march.
As we wait for the INDIA bloc's 'Chalo Delhi' march to begin, let us look at some of the worrisome developments from Sunday:
Rajya Sabha MP and CPI (M) leader John Brittas charged that he had been assaulted and dragged away by the Delhi Police while addressing the media.
"I was speaking to the press…I was dragged to a police van by CRPF men, despite me telling them that I haven’t violated any law and despite the SC verdict that peaceful protest is a fundamental right… I did not even go near the barricade. In the bus, they pinned me down and assaulted me," Brittas said.
This was despite the Supreme Court advising the Centre and Delhi Police not to "use a hammer to kill a fly", and on Sunday, ordering the restoration of metro, train, internet and movement rights in a special bench hearing.
Journalists were arrested on Sunday too.
Then there was the highly disturbing incident where a journalist shared a video of how the Delhi Police let a car go despite a fellow journalist shouting that it was loaded with sticks and weapons. "Instead of checking, the police gave it full cover and let it go," Krishna Kant, the journalist who posted the video, shared.
The Wire editor Siddharth Varadarajan, who was among those who re-shared the video, was scathing in his condemnation. "I do believe we are now at the public-private partnership stage of fascism with lumpens being given free rein to attack those standing up for democracy," he posted.
The Delhi High Court Bar Association has asked its members to wear black ribbons while appearing in court on Monday, in protest against the Delhi Police’s “illegal detention of lawyers and excessive use of force” during the protests on Saturday.
The association urged members to wear black ribbons as a mark of solidarity with those manhandled and detained and to register their opposition to the “excessive and disproportionate use of force by the police against members of the legal fraternity”.
