India’s opposition INDIA bloc held a mega rally at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on Sunday, 1 November 2026, under the slogan ‘Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao’. The gathering called for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, with speakers alleging irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Senior leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Mamata Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav travelled in an open bus from Kharge’s residence to the rally ground, joining a large crowd of supporters at the venue.
Addressing the rally, Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of ‘stealing votes’ and said legal action would be taken against him. He also said the opposition would defend the Constitution through ‘love, not hatred’.
Kharge said the bloc would not be intimidated by the police, the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Enforcement Directorate or other central agencies. Mamata Banerjee said Bengal was a victim of the SIR and the fight would continue, while Akhilesh Yadav alleged voter-list manipulation in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
A day earlier, on 31 October, the bloc held a symbolic ‘public impeachment’ of Kumar. A motion was adopted by a show of hands, levelling six charges, including conspiring to steal elections and deleting 13.2 crore voters through the SIR, and acting at the behest of Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
The BJP hit back at the rally. Union minister JP Nadda called it ‘foolish drama’, and BJP MP Sambit Patra questioned the Congress claim of 10 lakh attendees, saying nearly 40% of the ground was vacant. The Associated Press reported tens of thousands of demonstrators at the rally.
The Election Commission has described the SIR as a routine clean-up to remove the names of people who have died or moved away.
Source: The Hindu (live coverage), with BBC and Associated Press reporting. The Hindu live coverage
Featured image is illustrative only and is not a photograph of the rally.
