Thousands of Opposition supporters gathered at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on November 1 for a “Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao” rally, where Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and INDIA bloc allies demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls, Scroll.in reported.
Rahul Gandhi announced the “Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao” march on October 25, describing it as a combined people’s march and “maharally” at Ramlila Maidan. The rally follows weeks of Opposition protests over the Special Intensive Revision, including a “public impeachment” of the CEC staged by INDIA bloc parties on October 30 and an earlier demonstration outside the Election Commission’s office and at Jantar Mantar in early October, where Delhi Police detained Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Tens of thousands attended Sunday’s rally, according to Scroll.in’s own reporting from the ground. Delhi Police did not release an official crowd estimate, and Praman has not independently verified attendance figures put out by either side.
A traders’ body in Delhi had separately asked the INDIA bloc to push the rally past November 10, citing disruption to festive-season business around Diwali. Rahul Gandhi responded by urging traders to instead ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi to remove Gyanesh Kumar, which he said would end the protests “in 30 seconds.”
What Opposition leaders said at the rally
Rahul Gandhi called the alleged removal of voters from electoral rolls “theft of the voice of every person” and described it as a “rarest of rare case” in legal terms, according to Scroll.in. He renewed the Opposition’s demand for Gyanesh Kumar to step down as Chief Election Commissioner.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge told the gathering that the voter deletions amounted to “a criminal act and an act against the Constitution of India.” West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee said, “We didn’t lose, we were made to lose,” a reference to the party’s state election losses that the Opposition has repeatedly linked to the SIR process.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav told the rally that “BJP wants only its members to be voters and citizens of India.” The event drew leaders from across the INDIA bloc, underscoring an attempt to present a united front on the voter roll dispute.
Why the INDIA bloc wants the CEC removed
The Opposition’s core complaint is the Special Intensive Revision, the Election Commission’s ongoing exercise to re-verify every name on the country’s electoral rolls. Congress and its allies say the exercise has deleted eligible voters, disproportionately from communities seen as Opposition-leaning, while adding entries that later turned out to be flawed.
Praman has reported two of the specific disputes feeding into Sunday’s rally. The Supreme Court questioned the Election Commission’s handling of Form 6 filings for voters deleted from Delhi’s draft rolls in a hearing late last month, and separately ordered the Commission to act on bulk Form 7 deletion filings during Uttar Pradesh’s revision in a more recent order. Congress has cited both cases, along with the Pilibhit voter roll irregularities Praman covered last month, as evidence that the revision process needs independent oversight.
How the BJP responded
Union minister and BJP president JP Nadda dismissed the rally as a “conspiracy to hand over the country to anarchy in the name of democracy,” rejecting the Opposition’s allegations against the Election Commission. Rahul Gandhi separately accused the BJP of pressuring Connaught Place traders to shut their shops ahead of the march, a claim Praman could not independently verify.
The Election Commission itself did not issue a statement responding to Sunday’s rally, according to Scroll.in’s reporting.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Special Intensive Revision (SIR)?
It is the Election Commission’s ongoing exercise to re-verify every name on India’s electoral rolls state by state. The Opposition says the exercise has wrongly deleted eligible voters in states including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, a claim that is the subject of multiple pending Supreme Court hearings.
Who is Gyanesh Kumar?
Gyanesh Kumar is India’s current Chief Election Commissioner. The INDIA bloc wants him removed, alleging the SIR process under his watch has disproportionately affected Opposition-leaning voters. He has not personally responded to Sunday’s rally.
Has the Election Commission responded to the removal demand?
Not directly, as of this report. The Commission has not issued a public statement on the November 1 rally, and the only on-record pushback has come from BJP president JP Nadda.
What happens next
Congress has said the November 1 rally is not the Opposition’s last word on the issue. The INDIA bloc has previously flagged a further round of coordinated marches for late November, and the Supreme Court’s pending orders on Form 6 and Form 7 deletions in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh remain unresolved. Both will shape whether the CEC removal demand gains traction beyond Sunday’s show of strength.
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