Politics
Opposition Leaders Rally in Delhi to Demand Removal of Election Commissioner
On October 12, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi led thousands of marchers from a modified truck through central Delhi for hours to protest alleged irregularities in the Election Commission of India’s functioning and the electoral roll special intensive revision (SIR). Two air‑conditioned buses were kept as backup. About three weeks later, leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) used open‑top overlanders from Rajasthan, a type of vehicle used in jungle safaris, to renew demands for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The overlanders were seen as a symbol of opposition unity. The march and rally took place at Ramlila Maidan, one of three newly designated protest sites in the capital, and were the largest mobilisation of the INDIA bloc in recent years. The bloc has been demanding accountability for the removal of 130 million names from electoral rolls, many of them listed as absent, shifted or dead, as part of the SIR. Participants included Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Trinamool Congress leaders Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader M A Baby, Communist Party of India general secretary D Raja, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and Peoples Democratic Party’s Mehbooba Mufti. The march began from the edge of Connaught Place and snaked through central Delhi for over an hour before a rally at Ramlila Maidan where nine leaders spoke. Rahul Gandhi attacked the government, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah would not be allowed to escape the law, and called Kumar’s removal the first step to bring the country back on track. The protests were sparked after an Indian Express investigation found Election Commissioners SS Sandhu and Vivek Joshi recorded written dissents and objections at least 14 times between November 2025 and August 2026 and even wrote to the cabinet secretary. Election officials allegedly found their access to the ECI software curtailed by the central IT team. The Election Commission said differing views and observations were a normal part of deliberation and that all its digital platforms operated under strict data security protocols. Over the past month, thousands of people have taken to the streets despite Metro closures, internet shutdowns and prohibitory orders. In October, around 40,000 security personnel turned the capital into a virtual fortress and sparked controversy by dragging, manhandling and detaining many agitators. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has called the calls for Kumar’s removal and the scrapping of the SIR part of attempts to destabilise constitutional bodies to deflect attention from failures of the opposition parties.