INDIA Bloc Rallies at Ramlila Maidan, Demands Removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar

Leaders of the INDIA bloc and several thousand supporters assembled at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on 1 November 2026 for a rally that demanded the immediate removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The event, held under the slogan “Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao,” followed a symbolic “public impeachment” staged the previous day at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. Marchers moved from the Minto Road-Connaught Place junction to the Maidan under heavy security; Delhi Police deployed roughly 10,000 personnel across central New Delhi.

Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, told the crowd that the 2024 general election had been “stolen” after the Election Commission removed 13.3 crore names from the rolls, roughly 15 percent of the electorate. He said the difference between the NDA and the opposition was only 3 percent and that the deletions rendered the result illegal. Gandhi stated that Gyanesh Kumar would be removed from office and would go to jail, and that legal action would follow against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for what he called vote theft. He added that Modi “cannot go anywhere” and that the opposition would not allow him to leave.

Mallikarjun Kharge called the gathering historic and said the alliance would continue fighting until Kumar departs. Mamata Banerjee, former West Bengal chief minister, mocked the commissioner with the line “Gyanesh, when will you vanish?” and said Bengal had been a particular victim of the Special Intensive Revision. Akhilesh Yadav described the Maidan as the “Haldighati of democracy” and said the turnout showed that political change could arrive at any moment. Other speakers included Mehbooba Mufti, Farooq Abdullah and leaders of the Left parties. An open-top bus carried several senior figures to the venue.

The opposition’s central allegation is that the Special Intensive Revision process, conducted under Kumar’s tenure, deleted large numbers of voters in a manner that favoured the Bharatiya Janata Party. Kumar was appointed an election commissioner in March 2024 and became chief election commissioner in February 2025. The BJP has rejected the claims. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, speaking in Chandigarh the same day, said the rally was an attempt to hand the country over to anarchy in the name of democracy. JP Nadda called it a conspiracy. BJP supporters noted that some seats at the Maidan remained empty.

Ramlila Maidan has hosted major political gatherings for decades, including the 2011 Anna Hazare fast and multiple Dussehra celebrations. Sunday’s crowd size was described by Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal as flooding “the entire Delhi.” Protesters carried party flags of the Congress, Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress and Left parties and raised slogans including “Vote chor, gaddi chhod.” Some displayed symbolic “chopped fingers” to represent deleted voters. The rally ended without reported major incidents, though traffic restrictions remained in force until late afternoon.

The opposition has not produced independent forensic evidence of systematic deletion beyond the aggregate numbers cited by Gandhi. The Election Commission has maintained that the revision followed established procedures and removed only ineligible or duplicate entries. The political effect is immediate: the INDIA bloc has placed the electoral process itself at the centre of its messaging ahead of state elections and the next national cycle. Whether the charges gain traction outside the alliance’s core supporters will depend on subsequent court filings and any further disclosures about the revision process.