INDIA bloc takes Gyanesh Kumar row to President, plans march on Friday

• INDIA bloc plans march from Parliament to Rashtrapati Bhavan and seek meeting with President Droupadi Murmu.

• Opposition alleges irregularities in the SIR of electoral rolls and seeks CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.

• Proposed march follows three days of protests in Delhi, including a sit-in at Rajghat.

The INDIA bloc is set to intensify its campaign against chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Friday, 9 October, with Opposition leaders planning to march from Parliament to Rashtrapati Bhavan and seek a meeting with President Droupadi Murmu over electoral irregularities.

The Opposition has sought an appointment with the President to submit a memorandum highlighting its concerns over the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging a role played by the CEC in what it describes as ‘vote chori (theft)’.

However, the President’s office has not yet allotted a time for the meeting. Congress general-secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said on Thursday that the bloc had first sought an appointment on 2 October and subsequently submitted the names of the proposed delegates on 5 October, requesting a meeting on 7, 8 or 9 October.

Congress sources said INDIA bloc leaders are likely to proceed towards Rashtrapati Bhavan after assembling at Makar Dwar in Parliament. However, given the ongoing protests, security considerations and protocol, it remains uncertain whether the delegation will be allowed to meet the President without a confirmed appointment.

The proposed meeting is part of the Opposition’s three-pronged strategy — political, legal and constitutional, and mass mobilisation — to mount pressure on the government, seeking Kumar’s resignation.

The move comes after three consecutive days of protests by INDIA bloc parties in Delhi. On Tuesday, Opposition MPs marched towards the Election Commission and staged a prolonged protest near Akashvani Bhavan. On Wednesday, they attempted to march towards Jantar Mantar and were stopped by police.

On Thursday, after a lunch meeting hosted by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the leaders proceeded to Rajghat and held a protest at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial.

At Rajghat on Thursday, CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas said the protest would continue until Kumar resigned. “The protest will continue tomorrow as well,” he said.

Notably, Brittas has separately written to President Murmu raising concerns over the SIR exercise and Kumar’s role. The President’s Secretariat responded to his representation on Wednesday and forwarded it to the legislative department for appropriate action, according to reports.

The INDIA bloc’s outreach to the President comes amid growing political confrontation over the Election Commission’s handling of the revision of electoral rolls, most notably Gyanesh Kumar's unilateral decisions keeping his two fellow election commissioners in the dark, as evidenced by 14 dissent notes sent by them in 10 months.

The Election Commission, however, has maintained that differences of opinion among commissioners are part of institutional deliberations and that its orders have legal sanction and follow established procedures.

Congress sources said the Opposition would continue to use “all available avenues” — parliamentary, political, constitutional and street protests — to put pressure on the government over its allegations of electoral irregularities.

The proposed march to Rashtrapati Bhavan, according to Delhi watchers, marks the next step in the INDIA bloc’s strategy to take the issue beyond street protests and seek intervention through constitutional channels.