Thousands of opposition supporters rallied at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on Sunday demanding the resignation of India’s Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, over a voter roll revision that has removed more than 130 million names since last year.
The protest was called by the INDIA bloc — the opposition alliance formed in 2023 to unseat Prime Minister Narendra Modi — and led by Rahul Gandhi, leader of the main opposition Congress party, the Daily Mirror reported. Several alliance parties bussed in cadres from different states. Demonstrators carried musical instruments and flags and chanted against central government policy.
The dispute
The Election Commission’s review of voter lists has struck more than 130 million names from the rolls since last year. Critics say the exercise is politically motivated, threatens to disenfranchise millions more, and has fallen disproportionately on minorities, particularly Muslims. The Election Commission and Modi’s administration reject that, saying the revision removes duplicate and ineligible entries.
Human Rights Watch said on Thursday that the accusations raise “serious questions about the fairness of future Indian elections.” Its Asia director, Elaine Pearson, said in a statement that authorities “should immediately scrap the voter roll revision process that has denied India’s most marginalized people their right to vote and other government services.”
Modi has not publicly commented on the protests.
A venue, and a heavy police presence
The rally was held at Ramlila Maidan after police last month removed Jantar Mantar from the list of officially designated protest venues. The historic observatory had long been Delhi’s main protest site.
Authorities deployed thousands of police and paramilitary personnel and mounted extensive surveillance — more than 200 CCTV cameras, drones and body-worn cameras at the venue and along the route. Hiru News, citing Reuters, reported officers with batons and riot shields and riot-control vehicles stationed around the ground, with traffic diverted on several roads.
The gathering came weeks after a police crackdown on protesters in the capital.
On the numbers
The two accounts differ on turnout, and neither is a count. The Daily Mirror describes “thousands” of demonstrators; Hiru reports the opposition’s own expectation of hundreds of thousands. One is an observation and the other an organiser’s projection, and this report does not reconcile them.
Not reported
Neither filing reports a police turnout estimate, whether the rally passed off without incident, or whether any arrests were made. Neither says what proportion of the 130 million removals have been challenged or restored, nor when the revision is due to conclude. The Election Commission’s response to Sunday’s rally is not recorded.
