After two days of marches, barricades, road blockades and detentions, the INDIA bloc is set for another show of strength in the national capital on Thursday, with Opposition leaders gathering for a lunch hosted by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge before moving towards Rajghat.Several Opposition leaders have gathered at Moets in Connaught Place for the lunch meeting, with them expected to board three buses and head towards Rajghat shortly.RJD’s Sudhar Singh, SP leader Rajiv Rai, TMC MPs and representatives of other INDIA bloc parties have joined the meeting.The move comes as the Opposition’s campaign against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar enters its third day, with the parties demanding his resignation over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and their wider allegation of “vote theft”.The day has also brought a significant development for the Opposition. President Droupadi Murmu is scheduled to meet a 10-member INDIA bloc delegation on Friday, after the alliance had sought an appointment for 15 leaders.The Rashtrapati Bhavan has asked the Opposition to reduce the size of the delegation. The leaders expected to meet the President include Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav and Mamata Banerjee, among others.Ahead of Thursday’s lunch, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said the alliance had first written to the President on October 2 seeking a meeting.“Subsequently, the Rashtrapati Bhavan office asked us to provide the names of the leaders who would attend. Accordingly, we sent another request on October 5, giving the names and seeking an appointment on October 7, 8 or 9. We had not received a response till then,” Venugopal said.The President’s appointment now gives the Opposition another avenue to press its case after two days of a standoff with the Delhi Police.Security, meanwhile, has been tightened across central Delhi ahead of the planned movement. Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force personnel have been deployed in large numbers, with barricades placed at several points and areas cordoned off.Security arrangements have also been made around Rajghat, where the Opposition leaders are expected to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.The fresh mobilisation comes a day after Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Kharge and several other Opposition leaders were detained when their buses were stopped short of Jantar Mantar.On Wednesday, three buses carrying Opposition MPs from a lunch meeting were stopped near Ashoka Road, close to the Shangri-La hotel. The leaders then got off the buses and staged a sit-in on the road.Rahul was forcibly removed and taken away in a police bus. Priyanka, along with other women leaders, lay on the road holding the Constitution before being removed by women police personnel. Kharge and several other MPs were also detained.Rahul was taken to Barakhamba police station, while Priyanka and several other leaders were taken to Chhatrasal Stadium. They were later released.The confrontation followed Tuesday’s march from Parliament towards the Election Commission headquarters, when Opposition MPs were stopped by police and several leaders were detained after a prolonged sit-in at Akashvani Bhawan.The Delhi Police has now registered another FIR against Rahul and Priyanka in connection with Wednesday’s protest, alleging assault on police personnel and obstruction of government work. Several other Congress leaders and workers have also been named.Police said the allegations and the role of those involved were being examined. As many as 91 people, including MPs and other leaders, were detained during Wednesday’s demonstration.The latest political mobilisation has also spilled beyond Delhi. In Patna, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav led an INDIA bloc march towards Raj Bhavan as part of the statewide agitation against Kumar.In Jammu, Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders and workers demonstrated against the CEC and the BJP.Congress, NCP and Left leaders and workers held a joint demonstration in Nagpur, also demanding Kumar’s resignation.In Hyderabad, Telangana Congress organised a “Chalo Lok Bhavan” march from the Indira Gandhi statue to Raj Bhavan in Somajiguda.The third day of the agitation also began amid a political confrontation outside the Connaught Place lunch venue, where BJP and Congress supporters reportedly clashed. A man who identified himself as a BJP supporter and admirer of Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged that Congress workers assaulted him after he raised pro-BJP slogans. The man, who said he was from Srinagar, claimed he had not made any remarks against Rahul Gandhi.The Opposition, meanwhile, is seeking to keep the focus on the Election Commission and its demand for Kumar’s resignation.