CEC-SIR protest LIVE: Rahul says INDIA bloc’s next move a ‘surprise’; Shah tells Cong to introspect
After meeting INDIA bloc leaders and civil society members, the LoP says the movement will continue until those accused of electoral fraud are brought to justice
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday (October 13) said he would not reveal the Opposition parties’ next move amid the CEC-SIR row, saying that doing so would spoil the excitement and sense of surprise for citizens. “Our movement will go till the end goal. How? That is a surprise,” he said.
“Sooner or later, whether tomorrow, the day after, in three months, six months, a year or two years, it will not stop. It will reach the end goal. I cannot tell you exactly how we will get there, because that would spoil the surprise, and we want to maintain the excitement and sense of surprise for you and the country. But I guarantee you that, just as we mobilised with such energy, strength and unity, we will continue to fight together in the same spirit,” he said.
High tea at Rahul's residence
Addressing reporters after deliberations with INDIA bloc and civil society members at his residence, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha said this is the Opposition’s commitment that the people who have indulged in “vote chori” would be brought to justice, naming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
Rahul had hosted Opposition leaders of the grouping together with civil society members and students’ leaders at his residence for tea. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi and several opposition leaders, including Tejashwi Yadav and Manoj Jha of the RJD, Mahua Maji (JMM), Harender Malik, Anand Bhadauria and Mohibullah Nadvi (SP), M A Baby (CPI-M), D Raja and P Sandosh Kumar (CPI), AISA chief Neha Bora, Dipankar Bhattacharya (CPI-ML) and Mahua Moitra (TMC), attended the tea at Rahul Gandhi's 5, Sunehri Bagh Road, residence.
The LoP also said that they had extreme respect for the Supreme Court and the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and hoped they would play their role in this process. “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 said.
The meeting came a day after Opposition leaders, joined by activists and civil society members, undertook a "March for Democracy" on a heavily-barricaded route and filed a joint petition against the SIR of electoral rolls and alleged poll irregularities in a major show of strength in the national capital.
SC gives Centre more time to file response
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court extended time till October 15 for the filing of response by the Centre on a batch of petitions arising from the closure of Metro stations and disruptions in train services in Delhi ahead of October 10 protests against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
A bench of Chief Justice (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, which was scheduled to conduct the crucial hearing on a litany of petitions, deferred the hearing to Thursday as Justice Mohana was indisposed.
Read our stories on the topic here
DMK-Congress feud: SIR becomes flashpoint in Tamil Nadu’s new political equation
Opportunism or long game? Why Akhilesh Yadav picked a Modi fan as SP’s RS candidate
What Rahul Gandhi's SIR petition in SC asks, and why sceptics doubt it
Foreign hand in anti-SIR protests? Prove it, or drop it, Mr Nabin
Indian voter is angry, but Gyanesh Kumar can still atone for his ‘crimes’
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Live Updates
- 13 Oct 2026 3:21 PM IST
Rahul Gandhi's SIR plea delayed as Supreme Court flags defects
A petition filed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and 10 opposition leaders after a march on October 12 was not listed for hearing in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, as defects flagged by the registry remain uncorrected.
The registry identified 14 defects, including an unclear copy of the identity card of Congress president and Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge. It also flagged illegible or missing pages.
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant assured the petitioners that the matter would be listed once the defects were corrected.
"We will list all these matters. Make sure that the defects are cured," the CJI told senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, who mentioned the matter on behalf of a journalist.
The petition alleges large-scale voter deletions and irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. It seeks an independent audit led by a retired Supreme Court judge, with technical experts assisting the panel.
The plea also asks the court to ensure that no voter is deleted without notice and a reasonable opportunity to be heard. It seeks publication of booth-wise deletion lists, reasons for each removal and age- and gender-based data.
The Election Commission of India, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi have been named as respondents.
Earlier, the CJI declined a meeting requested by Rahul and Kharge, saying discussing matters pending before the court would be "incompatible with established ethics and judicial propriety".
- 13 Oct 2026 3:07 PM IST
NSUI protesters detained during flash protest at Rajiv Chowk
The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) staged a flash protest outside Gate No. 7 of Delhi’s Rajiv Chowk Metro Station, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Security personnel detained the protesters during the demonstration.
- 13 Oct 2026 3:05 PM IST
CJP lawyer says police denied access to 14 leaders at Jantar Mantar
Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) leaders Ashutosh Ranka, Saurav Das and Ajinkya Shinde were among 14 people present at Jantar Mantar, according to their legal representative, Pushp Sharma, who said police had repeatedly denied his requests to meet them.
Sharma said the group arrived at around 9.30 am on Monday, and he reached the site about 30 minutes later. He said he spoke to the Station House Officer (SHO) and sought permission to meet the leaders to check on their well-being and ensure their safety.
“I had been in constant contact with Saurav Das through WhatsApp messages and phone calls. His last message to me was that their phones were being taken away. Since then, I have repeatedly tried calling him, but he has not answered,” Sharma said.
He said he had repeatedly urged the SHO to let him meet the group and reminded the police of their right to access legal counsel.
“However, the last message I received from Saurav Das indicated that their phones were being taken away,” Sharma said.
According to Sharma, police assured him that the group was safe and told him he could call if he needed to discuss anything with them.
- 13 Oct 2026 3:02 PM IST
Bhupender Yadav accuses INDIA Bloc of spreading confusion over SIR
Union Minister Bhupender Yadav criticised the INDIA bloc's protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, questioning the Opposition's objections to the exercise.
“Rahul Gandhi should be asked — SIR happened in Keralam and Congress came to power. In Tamil Nadu, they did not take 20 minutes to drop their old allies who had been with them for 20 years,” Yadav said as quoted by ANI.
He alleged that the Opposition was using the issue to create confusion despite accepting election results in Kerala.
“They are happy with the election results in Keralam and this whole issue is just to spread confusion,” he said.
Defending the SIR exercise, Yadav said it was a routine process carried out by the Election Commission under established guidelines.
“SIR is a continuous process of the Election Commission that is carried out with full guidelines,” he said.
He also accused the Opposition of inconsistency, saying it had earlier demanded the removal of names it considered incorrect but was now objecting to the voter list revision.
“Now that the voter list is being cleared, they still have a problem with it,” Yadav said, adding that he believed the Opposition was the only side raising objections.
- 13 Oct 2026 2:59 PM IST
Piyush Goyal accuses Rahul Gandhi of double standards on EC
Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of double standards over his criticism of the Election Commission, alleging that the party was ignoring its own record while questioning the poll body's fairness.
“For the past few days, we have been seeing the conduct and double standards of Rahul Gandhi, seeing his childish actions which demolish every aspect of the Constitution,” Goyal said as quoted by ANI.
He said he wanted to share information about the issue and pose questions to Gandhi.
“I want to share some information with you regarding this and ask some questions to Rahul Gandhi,” the minister added.
Goyal also accused the Congress of inconsistency in its criticism of the Election Commission, saying, “Congress questions the fairness of Election Commission but overlooks its own track record.”
- 13 Oct 2026 2:56 PM IST
Dipke alleges detained CJP leaders held separately
Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Tuesday alleged that party leaders and volunteers detained in Delhi had been taken to separate locations, while police prevented lawyers from entering a police station.
“I spoke to Ratna (CJP Legal Head Ratna Singh) just now, she told me that Ashutosh, Ajinkya, and Saurav have been kept separately (after detention in Delhi),” Dipke said as quoted by the Hindustan Times.
He added that 11 volunteers who were with the leaders had been taken elsewhere.
“The 11 volunteers who were with them have been taken somewhere else. When our lawyers reached the Police Station, Police didn't let them enter,” Dipke said.
He also alleged that other party members were threatened with detention when they reached the police station.
- 13 Oct 2026 2:52 PM IST
TMC protests in Kolkata, demands CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation
TMC workers stage a protest in Kolkata demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
- 13 Oct 2026 2:50 PM IST
John Brittas downplayed defects in Rahul Gandhi's SC petition
CPI(M) MP John Brittas on Tuesday downplayed defects in Rahul Gandhi's Supreme Court petition as routine, saying such issues could be corrected through the court registry's established process.
“Such small defects are normal. Why is there a mechanism to correct defects? The Registry itself tells those who submit petitions to correct them. I don't think it's a big issue,” Brittas told ANI.
He added that the registry had a procedure to rectify defects and urged attention to the substance of the petition rather than technical issues.
“These things happen... Let us look at the content. What is the content?” he said.
Brittas accused the BJP of focusing on procedural issues instead of the main concern raised in the petition.
“The BJP wants to take refuge in so-called accessories rather than the central focal point of the issue,” he said.
He said the central issue was to ensure Supreme Court intervention to restore public trust and faith, and to ensure that the institution functions in accordance with constitutional provisions.
- 13 Oct 2026 2:43 PM IST
Rahul Gandhi invites INDIA Bloc MPs, student groups for tea on Tuesday
Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has invited INDIA bloc MPs, student organisations and civil society members to his residence for tea on Tuesday.
Gandhi said the gathering would be followed by a joint interaction with the media, linking the meeting to the ongoing movement to protect democracy.
“In this people's movement to protect democracy, we are all together - and this movement will continue relentlessly,” he said in a post on X.
“After tea, we will all come together and present our case in front of the media. All protests are one,” Rahul added.
- 13 Oct 2026 2:38 PM IST
‘Gyanesh Centre’s mascot of illegal activities; he must go, SIR must be scrapped’
Scrapping the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is essential because the entire process is illegal and it should go hand in hand with the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh, the mascot using whom the Centre conducts all electoral manipulations, says independent advocate and activist Rajalaxmi Ankalagi. Read the full story here: ‘Gyanesh Centre’s mascot of illegal activities; he must go, SIR must be scrapped’
