Thousands gather in Delhi as INDIA bloc demands resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar

Thousands of people gathered in New Delhi on November 1 for a rally organised by the INDIA bloc at Ramlila Maidan. The demonstrators called for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. They accuse him of overseeing a Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls that has removed large numbers of eligible voters, particularly from minority and disadvantaged communities.

The procession began near Minto Road and Connaught Place and moved toward Ramlila Maidan under heavy security. Senior leaders present included Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Akhilesh Yadav, Mamata Banerjee, Tejashwi Yadav, Hemant Soren and others from the opposition alliance. A day earlier, the bloc had held a symbolic public impeachment of Kumar at Kharge’s residence. Placards and slogans focused on “vote chori” and demanded the restoration of deleted names and the scrapping of the revision process.

The Special Intensive Revision began last year. Election Commission data show roughly 130 million entries were removed. Of these, about 63 million were listed as permanently shifted, 30 million as untraceable, 28 million as deceased and smaller numbers as duplicates. Opposition parties say the process disproportionately affected their supporters and that internal objections from the other two election commissioners were ignored. An Indian Express report in September described at least fourteen formal concerns raised over ten months that were not acted upon. The Election Commission has rejected the characterisation and stated that decisions were taken unanimously and that the exercise removes only dead, shifted or duplicate voters.

Police deployed in large numbers around the rally site. Earlier protests in October had led to more than a thousand detentions in a single day at Jantar Mantar. On November 1 the gathering remained largely peaceful according to initial reports, though security arrangements included riot-control vehicles and restricted movement in central Delhi. The youth-led Cockroach Janta Party has also participated in related demonstrations demanding Kumar’s removal.

The controversy has continued for weeks. Opposition leaders argue that the scale of deletions exceeds normal attrition and that notice and appeal mechanisms were inadequate. They have also called for a return to paper ballots. The Election Commission maintains that the revision improves the accuracy of the rolls ahead of future elections. The next general election is scheduled for 2029. State elections in the intervening period will use the revised lists.

Supreme Court proceedings related to the process are ongoing. Petitions have raised questions about the legality of certain form changes and the centralisation of decision-making. The court has issued notices but has not stayed the revision. The November 1 rally represents the largest single opposition mobilisation on the issue to date. Whether it produces any procedural change at the Election Commission or remains a political demonstration will depend on subsequent legal and administrative steps.

The BJP has dismissed the allegations as an attempt to undermine a routine administrative exercise. It has pointed to similar revisions in earlier decades. For the opposition, the deletions have become a central campaign theme linking electoral administration to broader claims about the integrity of the democratic process. The Ramlila Maidan gathering on November 1 kept that theme in public view.