The opposition INDIA bloc has announced a week of nationwide protests against the Election Commission, capped by a march of all opposition MPs to the EC headquarters in New Delhi on October 6.

The decision was taken at a meeting on September 30 that ran for about three and a half hours. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi attended, along with Mamata Banerjee, Omar Abdullah, Tejashwi Yadav and Supriya Sule. The Aam Aadmi Party and the DMK stayed away.

Under the “Save Democracy” banner, the bloc will hold marches at the district level from October 2 to 8, assembling outside district magistrates’ offices. It will also seek a meeting with the President in the second week of October, hold five rallies across states, and stage a major rally in Delhi on November 1.

The bloc’s demands include a return to ballot papers in place of EVMs and an appeal to the Supreme Court to expedite pending cases on the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The protests mark the opposition’s sharpest confrontation yet with the poll panel.