Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on 13 October hosted a high tea meeting at his Sunehri Bagh Road residence in New Delhi, bringing together Members of Parliament from the Congress and allied INDIA bloc parties to map out the next phase of protests against the Election Commission of India (ECI)'s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, which the opposition has labelled 'arbitrary and flawed'. Chief Ministers, senior parliamentarians, civil society members, and student organisation representatives were among those invited.

Why the Meeting Was Called

The gathering follows a day of high-pitched opposition action. On Monday, Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge spearheaded a protest march to the doorstep of the Supreme Court, targeting what they described as the Chief Election Commissioner's alleged high-handedness. The high tea was convened to decide how to sustain and intensify that momentum, with a press conference by INDIA bloc leaders also reportedly planned for the evening.

What Opposition Leaders Said

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram was direct: 'The road is hard, but we are willing to travel that road. We want reformation in the Election Commission, and we particularly want the Chief Election Commissioner to resign.' Samajwadi Party MP Awadhesh Prasad echoed the sentiment, saying, 'Democracy is in danger, and the Constitution drafted by Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar is under threat. The Election Commission and the government are determined to take away the voting rights granted by Babasaheb.'

Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi expressed confidence in the movement's gathering weight. 'This is not just a campaign by the INDIA bloc; it is a reflection of people's love on one hand, and their anger and discontent on the other,' he said. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor declined to comment ahead of the meeting.

Barricade Row: Congress Pushes Back

Congress MP Deepender Hooda addressed the controversy over barricades reportedly broken during Monday's protest march, calling allegations against the movement a deliberate attempt at discrediting it. 'When the barricades fell, at that very moment, Rahul ji stopped the truck and told us — Go down and control it. And after that, when we went to the back side of the truck, it was decided there that I should sit in the front and control it. So I was already sitting in the front,' Hooda said, in an apparent rebuttal of official accounts of the incident.

The Broader Demand: CEC's Resignation

Across the various statements made by arriving MPs, a common thread was the call for the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) to step down, framed as essential to restoring the credibility of the institution. Several MPs admitted, when asked about the INDIA bloc's future mobilisation strategy, that they awaited the Leader of Opposition's briefing before commenting on specifics. Notably, the opposition has consistently characterised the SIR exercise as a mechanism that could disenfranchise voters — a charge the ECI has not publicly addressed in detail ahead of this meeting.

What Comes Next

The high tea is widely seen as a strategy session ahead of a potential escalation in the opposition's street-level campaign. With a press conference slated for the evening, formal announcements on the next phase of demonstrations are expected shortly. The INDIA bloc's ability to maintain unity across its constituent parties — and translate street protests into sustained political pressure — will be the key variable to watch in the days ahead.