"It's Tandava, Shiva's Dance, No Plan Needed": Rahul Gandhi On His Strategy

This is Tandava, Shiva's dance, there's no planning in it and everyone is welcome, Rahul Gandhi said on Monday when asked about his protest strategy against the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls

"We are not fighting for the street, we are fighting for the mind, heart of Indian people and telling Indian people that this type of India is dangerous for you," Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said at a press conference today.

Quoting a discussion about strategy he had with his sister, Priyanka Gandhi, Gandi said he told her "she did not understand". 

"My sister tells me that we should make a plan. So I told my sister, 'You are not understanding the point. This is Tandav. This is Lord Shiva's dance. There is no planning in this. Today we are going to the Supreme Court; tomorrow it will be something else. What do you think? Did we make a plan at Akashvani Bhavan?

"The plan was that we would go by bus, sit there, and get arrested. The police wouldn't let us go. So we changed the plan. Did the result come from the plan, or did it come from the non-plan? There is no need for any plan. This dance is ongoing. This is Lord Shiva's dance going on. In this, anyone can join Shiva's procession (Shiv ki Baraat). Anyone who wants to join, can come," he said.

शिव का तांडव चल रहा है- इसमें कुछ भी प्लान नहीं होता है। ये शिव की बारात है, इसमें कोई भी आ सकता है, हम किसी को रोकेंगे नहीं। : नेता विपक्ष श्री @RahulGandhi 📍 दिल्ली https://t.co/nSItxL6Vew

— Congress (@INCIndia) October 12, 2026

Last week, after police appeared to have broken up the Opposition's march against the Election Commission, Rahul Gandhi improvised by turning the All India Radio (Akashvani Bhawan) campus in Delhi into the unlikely centre of an all-day sit-in that went on till late in the night.

The INDIA bloc is marching towards the Supreme Court to take their protests against the Election Commission and the SIR process forward.

The Congress leader then cited his Bharat Jodo Yatra, saying it acted as a unifier.

"In the Bharat Jodo Yatra, there was no king; everyone walked together, and the people of India embraced one another. It was a Tandava, a procession of Lord Shiva," he said.

"Hindustan aise resist karta hai. Hindustan plan ke saath resist nahi karta hai, Hindustan dil ke saath resist karta hai aur resistance jaari hai, jaari rahegi (This is how India resists. India does not resist according to a plan; India resists with its heart - and the resistance continues, and will continue)," Gandhi said.

Gandhi refused to label parallel protests as different, calling them "one protest".

"All the protests are one protest. There are no parallel protests and the idea is India is marching. We do not care who you are, which formation you come from, if you are protecting the constitution, as we are, we are with you, we will help you, we will support you, we will protect you and expect the same from you. This is an expression of our love for Indian people," Gandhi said .

"There are no parallel protests. There's one protest. The protest is to remove Gyanesh Kumar and then after that remove Mr Prime Minister, Mr Amit Shah. Remove these people. We are not going to stop," Gandhi underscored. 

Asked if the government has reached out to him, Gandhi said not to him directly.

"Yes, multiple people have reached out. It's interesting they don't reach out to me though, they reach out to people around me. They understand that. This is communication with the government (he points to the ongoing conversation with the press). I don't need to talk to them on the phone. There's nothing that I do that is hidden from the people of India. Full transparency. What I have to say to the government and to the people of India, I say it from here (points to the stage). I say it on the street," Gandhi said.