“There are no parallel protests, but only one movement to restore democracy,” the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday (October 13, 2026), as he hosted Opposition politicians, civil society activists, and student leaders for tea to discuss the future course of the agitation demanding the suspension of the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Sources told The Hindu that leaders of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) were not present, although Mr. Gandhi had reached out to invite them to attend. The CJP had been among the youth movements that issued a call for Saturday’s (October 10) protest, provoking a harsh police crackdown.
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Mr. Gandhi, who hosted the discussion a day after the INDIA bloc’s united march to the Supreme Court to file a petition to halt the SIR, made it clear that political resistance will continue, regardless of the court’s response.
“We have extreme respect for the Supreme Court, for the Chief Justice of India, for the judicial system. They have a role to play; we hope they will play that role but we are also political people. No matter what happens, no matter which institution plays a role or not, political resistance will continue, people’s resistance will continue, and it will triumph,” he told reporters after the meeting.
Protests may take Navratri break
Sources said it was decided at the meeting that though there may be breaks in large-scale protest actions because of the Navratri and Durga Puja festivities, the agitation will continue, with Delhi remaining the main focus. Parties belonging to the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will coordinate every day among each other for joint action.
Opposition leaders from 16 parties attended, including M.A. Baby (CPI-M), D. Raja and P. Sandosh Kumar (CPI), Tejashwi Yadav and Manoj Jha (RJD), Mahua Maji (JMM), Harender Malik, Anand Bhadauria, and Mohibullah Nadvi (SP), Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena-UBT), Sagarika Ghose and Mahua Moitra (TMC), G. Deverajan (Foward Bloc), and Dipankar Bhattacharya (CPI-ML). AISA chief Neha Bora and advocate Prashant Bhushan also attended the tea party at Mr. Gandhi’s No. 5, Sunehri Bagh Road residence. Top Congress leaders, including party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and K.C. Venugopal, were also present.
‘PM, HM, CEC will be brought to justice’
Mr. Gandhi said that people who “destroy India’s Constitution and the election system” could not be allowed to get away with it, vowing that action will be taken against those who have indulged in alleged “vote chori (theft)”.
“It is our commitment that the people who have done this — [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi, who is the main architect, [Home Minister] Amit Shah, who is implementor, [CEC] Gyanesh Kumar and others — they need to understand that the net is closing around them… We assure you that all would be brought to justice,” the Opposition leader asserted.
‘Will fight to regain Jantar Mantar’
Several leaders objected to the government denotifying the designated protest site at Jantar Mantar and vowed to reclaim it.
“The one method of expression of democracy was Jantar Mantar, and now, the government has decided that Jantar Mantar can no longer be used to express democratic feelings. Well, we are going to challenge that idea,” Mr. Gandhi said.
Mr. Yadav called it a “sign of the ruling party’s fear”. He alleged that the CEC had tried to “trample” democracy at the behest of Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah.
“Earlier, they [BJP] were indulging in vote chori but now they are resorting to protest site chori,” saidMr. Baby.
Mr. Raja also strongly condemned the decision to denotify Jantar Mantar, saying, “We will fight to regain it.”
Mr. Raut said the government had kept the country in “fear and intimidation, but now it’s their turn to be afraid”. The Sena (UBT) leader added: “Gyanesh Kumar is a mafia, he is such a mafia who has criminalised the entire [electoral] system. We know how to fight and deal with such mafias.”
Published – October 13, 2026 10:53 pm IST
