INDIA Bloc Leaders Address Ramlila Maidan Rally Demanding CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s Resignation

Leaders of the INDIA bloc addressed a rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on 1 November 2026 that called for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The gathering followed a symbolic public impeachment held the previous day at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. Opposition parties accuse the Election Commission of large-scale deletions of eligible voters during the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and of actions that favour the ruling party.

Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, told the crowd that neither Narendra Modi would have secured a third term as prime minister nor Amit Shah become home minister without Kumar’s assistance. Gandhi described the alleged removal of voters as theft of the voice of every person and called it a rarest-of-rare case. Mallikarjun Kharge said the opposition would continue its agitation until Kumar resigned and warned that the bloc would dig him out from the ground if necessary. Kharge accused the process of intentional deletion of 13 crore voters and called the deletions a criminal act against the Constitution.

Mamata Banerjee, former chief minister of West Bengal, said Bengal was a victim of the revision exercise and asked when Kumar would vanish. Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party described the Maidan as the Haldighati of democracy and said the turnout showed that political change could come at any moment. Other speakers included Tejashwi Yadav, Abhishek Banerjee, Revanth Reddy, Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti. Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were also present.

Participants carried banners reading “Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao” and raised slogans including “Vote chor, gaddi chhod”. Some demanded a return to paper ballots. The march began from the Minto Road–Connaught Place area and proceeded to Ramlila Maidan under heavy security. Delhi Police deployed nearly 10,000 personnel. The force described the demonstration as peaceful. Opposition estimates of attendance reached several lakhs; police planning figures were lower. Traffic diversions were in place across central Delhi from morning until evening.

The Special Intensive Revision has been under way in multiple states. Opposition parties argue that the exercise has disproportionately removed names of women, young voters and members of certain communities. The Election Commission has maintained that the revision is a standard process to clean the rolls. The rally did not produce an immediate response from the Commission or from the government on the demand for Kumar’s resignation. Kumar was appointed an election commissioner in March 2024 and became chief election commissioner in February 2025.

The sequence of the symbolic impeachment on 31 October and the Ramlila Maidan rally on 1 November marks the most concentrated public challenge the INDIA bloc has mounted against the Election Commission since the revision process began. Whether the pressure produces any change in the Commission’s procedures or in the status of the chief election commissioner will depend on subsequent legal challenges, parliamentary motions and the political calendar ahead of upcoming state elections. For the moment, the rally demonstrated the opposition’s ability to assemble leaders from multiple parties on a single platform focused on electoral rolls.