New Delhi: Amid the uproar over the Election Commission of India’s conduct of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls and the internal dissent within the poll body, top leaders of the opposition INDIA alliance met on Wednesday (September 30) to announce a collective strategy including district level protests, a march to the Election Commission and a major rally in the national capital. The leaders decided that the SIR and the Election Commission needed to be fought “legally and politically” including challenging the 2023 appointment of election commissioners law that provides them with immunity.Following the meeting Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge while addressing a press conference said that the Election Commission is being used like a “puppet” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah.The leaders’ six-point action plan included “Save Democracy” marches at the district level from October 2-8, opposition MPs march to the Election Commission on October 6, a meeting with the President in the second week of October, five major rallies by the opposition including a major rally in New Delhi on November 1 as well as an appeal for the early resolution of all cases relating to the SIR and electoral matters pending before the Supreme Court.The decisions were taken at the meeting on Wednesday which was attended by 33 leaders from 19 parties as well as independent MP Kapil Sibal. Apart from Kharge, other top opposition leaders like Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee(AITC), Tejashwi Yadav (RJD), M.A. Baby (CPI(M)), Dipankar Bhattacharya (CPIML), Omar Abdullah (NCP), Mehbooba Mufti (PDP) attended the meeting. Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Uddhav Thackeray and Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren joined the meeting online.Following the meeting, leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said that there was a feeling in the room that the opposition has been successful in putting across to the people of the country that Modi and Shah have destroyed democracy and there is a “sense of resistance particularly among young people.”“It is the personal commitment of all INDIA leaders that we are going to ensure that the people who have destroyed Indian democracy are punished. It doesn’t matter how senior they are, who they are; Indian democracy is bigger than every single person in this country,” he said.“There was also a feeling in the room that the opposition has been quite successful in putting a cross to the people of India that elections are stolen, that Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have destroyed democracy, and there is a new sense of resistance, particularly among young people, that what is going on in India is wrong and needs to be stopped.”Gandhi said that during the meeting he had mentioned that all opposition leaders are the “collective defenders of the Indian constitution” and “it is an honour for us to work together.“We are confident that in the next few months we will make serious changes in the country,” he said.Also read: The Election Commission’s SIR Press Note Raises More Questions Than It AnswersThe Wire has learnt there were some suggestions that the march to the Election Commission should take place immediately after the meeting but it was decided that it be conducted later so other MPs could also be called in to join.Sources said that in the meeting it was decided that the fight against the Election Commission and SIR needed to be fought both “politically and legally”.Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and J&K CM Omar Abdullah after an INDIA bloc coordination meeting regarding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Special SIR in New Delhi, September 30, 2026. Photo: PTI/Karma BhutiaThe parties also decided that the 2023 law governing the appointment of election commissioners, that provides them with lifelong immunity, would be challenged through joint petitions in the Supreme Court. In addition, it was also decided by consensus that paper ballots should replace EVMs.Also read: The SIR’s Safeguards Are Clearly Not Enough for an Exercise of This ScaleDuring the meeting sources said that Left leaders including M.A. Baby raised that the fight should be clearly against the RSS, and there is a need to go outside the room, involve civil society.Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, sources said, also raised the BJP’s ongoing assault on educational institutions in the state after the formation of the new government including Jadavpur University and SRFTI, to highlight that the BJP’s efforts to end democracy continue not just before elections but also after.At the press conference Banerjee said that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar must resign immediately and if he doesn’t “we will launch a massive agitation.”In his opening remarks Kharge said that across the country, citizens and political parties are raising grave concerns about the functioning of the Election Commission. He said that the INDIA bloc should demand that the pre-SIR rolls be used in future elections, due notice, reasons and an effective appeal mechanism before any legitimate voter is removed from the roll. In addition voting should be through ballots, and ensure institutional accountability as well as an Election Commission that commands confidence across the political spectrum.