Tens of Thousands Rally at Ramlila Maidan, Opposition Demands CEC Gyanesh Kumar Quit Over Voter-Roll Revision

Tens of thousands of opposition supporters gathered at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on Sunday, 1 November, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and an end to the ongoing revision of electoral rolls.

The rally was organised by the INDIA bloc, led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, with allied parties bringing in supporters from several states. Student groups and the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party, which began as an online satirical campaign this summer and has held near-daily protests since late September, also joined.

What the protesters want

• The resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar
• Scrapping of the voter-roll revision
• Safeguards for free and fair elections

Opposition parties say the revision has removed more than 130 million names from the rolls since last year and has hit minorities, especially Muslims, harder than others. The Congress has accused the BJP of “vote chori” (vote theft). The protests gathered pace after Kumar’s two fellow commissioners raised concerns about the revision, registration procedures and digital systems.

The response

The Election Commission denies favouring any party. It says the exercise removes duplicate and ineligible entries, and that voters wrongly removed can register again. Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda called the rally a “carefully orchestrated drama”, while some BJP leaders described the protesters as anarchists. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not commented publicly.

Security was heavy, with thousands of police and paramilitary personnel, drones and CCTV cameras deployed, along with traffic diversions in central Delhi. Human Rights Watch has also urged the authorities to scrap the revision, citing fairness concerns.

Featured image: A crowd at Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi (file photo). Photo: Hemant banswal, CC BY-SA 4.0 (source).

Sources

• Thousands rally in New Delhi to demand India’s election chief resign – Al Jazeera
• Indian opposition parties stage new protest against the elections chief – AP via ClickOrlando