Some travelled for nearly 48 hours in sleeper buses following the cancellation of train services. Others booked rail tickets from multiple stations to get around restrictions on bulk reservations. At least one walked in from a hospital ward. All negotiated multiple barriers on the way into Delhi, arriving from far-flung corners of the country in the thousands for the INDIA bloc rally on Sunday.

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The reasons that brought them to Delhi varied. For many, it was the only way to register their anger over being struck off electoral rolls. For some, it was a maiden visit to the capital. For others, it was a political pilgrimage that they hoped would bring long-anticipated change. 

All of them converged on the muddy grounds of Ramlila Maidan, where white plastic chairs sank into the rain-soaked earth and shoes left deep imprints. Crowds spilled beyond the venue, with many still making their way towards the grounds even after the rally had ended.

‘A better future for our children’

“You can break one stick easily, but if you bundle 10 sticks together, they cannot be broken. Today’s protest symbolises that bundle of sticks,” said Tejender, an IT employee who had arrived with his wife from Gurugram.

He said he was attending the rally “for a better future for our children”. His list of grievances was long, ranging from the state of education and healthcare to what he described as “vote chori (theft)”, which, he felt, tied together many of the country’s problems.

Sheikh Abdul Rafiq, who travelled from Adilabad in Telangana, claimed that 15,000 people had come from the State despite what he described as efforts to restrict travel. The special trains were not allowed. Bulk bookings were blocked. In the end, he said, the group decided to spend their own money to book sleeper buses. For him, the journey was worth the effort because he felt political change was just around the corner.

Flagging injustice

If Mr. Rafiq spoke of change, another Telangana resident, Abdul Kaleem from Suryapet district, said he was there only to flag the “injustice”. Nearly 80% of the people in his village had lost their votes during the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, he claimed. “I was born here; I studied here; I live here,” he said, but to get his name on the electoral rolls, he needed documents concerning his father and grandfather, which his family cannot find.

Zubair, a resident of Mominpura in central Nagpur, Maharashtra, echoed the sentiment. He has been running from pillar to post to get his family member’s names included in the electoral rolls, but it seems futile. Attending protests in the capital may, perhaps, deliver what all the running around back home failed to do, he hoped. “I was here for the October 10 protests too,” he said.

Seeking signs of revival

For Ram Kumar, a resident of Jharkhand’s Giridih, who was visiting Delhi for the first time, the rally was something of a carnival. He had travelled with a group of 60 people and was staying at a local lodge, he said. After spending the day at Ramlila Maidan, he was looking forward to exploring the capital by Metro, a mode of transport he had never used before.

For Anil Shukla, a Congress functionary from Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh who travelled with about 300 others in buses and arrived just in time for the rally, the campaign against the SIR was not as compelling a reason to attend as the Congress’s possible revival in his State. The crowd marching to the Ramlila grounds gave him hope. “If we contest 75 seats, we will win 60,” he said, scanning the crowd, his smile widening as more people streamed in.

‘Did not want to miss this’

With an intravenous cannula still inserted in her left arm, Azka, a Delhi-based cafe owner who had spent the previous week admitted to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital with typhoid, also arrived for the protest.

“I could not attend the earlier protests because I was unwell. Today, I did not want to miss this one. I am here simply to support the people of our country who are fighting against the government’s wrongdoings,” she said.

Ms. Azka said her mother had strictly advised her against attending the rally. However, she decided to make the journey anyway, joking that she would return to hospital the next day if her condition worsened.

Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal, in a post on X, alleged that authorities had attempted to prevent supporters from entering Delhi.

“They tried their best to stop people and their vehicles from entering Delhi’s borders. They deployed their usual fake news and dirty tricks department. They used their machinery to suppress our voice,” he said. Clearly, thousands overcame such hurdles.