INDIA Bloc Rallies at Ramlila Maidan, Demands Removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar Over Electoral Roll Claims

Thousands of supporters of the INDIA bloc gathered at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on Sunday, 1 November, for a rally demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav and others addressed the crowd after marching from the Minto Road-Connaught Place junction under the slogan “Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao.”

Rahul Gandhi told the gathering that Gyanesh Kumar would be removed from office and would go to jail. He said the alleged removal of voters during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) amounted to theft of the voice of citizens and described it as a rarest-of-rare case of treason. Gandhi claimed that neither Narendra Modi would have become Prime Minister nor Amit Shah Home Minister without Kumar’s role, and that legal action would follow against both. He stated that Amit Shah had said Modi is not going anywhere, but that the opposition would not allow him to leave.

Mallikarjun Kharge said the bloc would keep fighting until Gyanesh Kumar goes. He accused the government of trying to steal votes of women, youth and Dalits and declared that the opposition would dig Kumar out from the ground if necessary. Other speakers included Akhilesh Yadav, Mamata Banerjee, Mehbooba Mufti, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Tejashwi Yadav and several state chief ministers. An open-top bus carried several leaders to the venue. Flags of Congress, Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, RJD and Left parties filled the ground.

The rally followed a symbolic “public impeachment” of the CEC held the previous day at Kharge’s residence. Opposition parties have alleged large-scale deletions from electoral rolls during the SIR exercise and have called for a halt to the process. Some protesters displayed symbolic chopped fingers to represent deleted voters. Estimates of the crowd size varied; one report put participation at over one lakh, while others described it as one of the larger opposition mobilisations in recent years. Delhi Police deployed nearly 10,000 personnel across central and New Delhi to manage the event and a separate BJP march elsewhere in the city.

BJP leaders rejected the claims. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, speaking from Chandigarh, attacked the rally and said the opposition should prepare to spend another five years out of power. JP Nadda called the event a conspiracy to hand the country over to anarchy in the name of democracy. The government has maintained that the SIR is a routine exercise to clean electoral rolls and that the Election Commission operates independently.

The Special Intensive Revision has been under way in several states. Opposition parties have argued that the process has led to the removal of genuine voters, particularly from marginalised groups, while the Election Commission has said the exercise follows established procedures and that claims of large-scale wrongful deletions are unfounded. The rally took place days before the US midterm elections and amid ongoing political activity in India ahead of state polls.

Traffic restrictions were in place in central Delhi from 10 am to 5 pm. Leaders from multiple states travelled to the capital for the event. The opposition has said it will continue pressure on the Election Commission and the government over the voter-list issue. No official response from the Election Commission to the specific statements made at Ramlila Maidan was reported on Sunday evening.