Rahul Gandhi’s march to the Supreme Court marks a new turn in the Opposition’s campaign against the Election Commission.
After days of protests over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and allegations of 'vote chori', the Congress leader has taken the fight to the judiciary. A petition filed by his legal team named Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Saugata Roy, Akhilesh Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav as petitioners.
The move keeps electoral reforms in the news while seeking the Supreme Court’s intervention. Gandhi’s remarks before the march also suggested that the Opposition would not limit its campaign to the Election Commission.
He called the movement “Tandav”, referring to Lord Shiva’s dance, and said it did not need a fixed plan. His remarks suggested that the Opposition would decide its next course of action as the campaign progressed.
The BJP responded by accusing the Congress of attacking constitutional institutions whenever decisions went against it.
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan described the march as a gathering of unruly elements seeking to create disorder on the streets. He also questioned the Congress’s reference to Lord Shiva, saying that those who opposed Lord Ram were now invoking Lord Shiva. Other BJP leaders accused the Congress of trying to politicise the judiciary and pressurise it.
Chouhan argued that the Congress was blaming institutions for its electoral defeats instead of examining its own leadership.
“The reason for the Congress’s defeats is not the Election Commission,” he said. He accused the party of questioning the judiciary after unfavourable verdicts, the Election Commission after electoral losses, and the armed forces after operations against terrorists. According to him, the Congress was trying to regain power by discrediting institutions.
By approaching the Supreme Court, the Opposition is seeking a legal examination of its allegations. Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the leaders were going to court “on a matter of principle” to file a petition, rather than to hold a protest march.
Chouhan also attacked the Congress over its electoral losses in several states, describing it as a junior partner dependent on regional parties. He further alleged that the Congress and the INDIA bloc had “become puppets in the hands of foreign forces”.
These allegations formed part of the BJP’s political response, which, however, did not address the legal issues raised in the petition.
The unprecedented march marks a new twist in the battle between the ruling party and the Opposition. The confrontation has moved beyond the Election Commission to raise broader questions about the credibility of constitutional institutions, which political observers feel is a sensitive territory given not many have ventured there before.
It remains to be seen how the dispute unfolds and how much the confrontation between the two ideological camps affects these institutions.
The episode also raises a larger question: whether the current crisis should prompt a fresh look at their functioning, with a view to improving transparency and strengthening public trust, or open doors for repeated pressures.
