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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, along with several prominent INDIA bloc leaders, reached Delhi's Ramlila Maidan on Sunday, November 1, for the Opposition alliance's mega rally against alleged electoral irregularities and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The rally, organised under the 'Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao' campaign, is demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
Senior leaders, including Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav, participated in the mobilisation.
Several senior INDIA bloc leaders travelled in an open bus from Kharge's residence towards Minto Road before proceeding to Ramlila Maidan for the rally. Supporters from different states gathered at the venue, waving party flags and the national tricolour while raising slogans against the Election Commission.
The Opposition's march began from the Minto Road-Connaught Place junction and culminated at Ramlila Maidan. The INDIA bloc has accused the Election Commission of large-scale irregularities in electoral rolls and alleged that the SIR exercise resulted in the deletion of 13.2 crore voters' names.
The rally follows the alliance's symbolic 'public impeachment' of CEC Gyanesh Kumar on October 31, during which Opposition leaders unanimously adopted a motion against him by a show of hands. The bloc presented six charges against the CEC, including allegations of electoral manipulation and acting in coordination with the ruling BJP.
Addressing the gathering, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge called for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's removal, saying democracy needed to be protected. Kharge said the INDIA bloc would continue its fight until Gyanesh Kumar resigned.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav also targeted the Chief Election Commissioner, accusing him of functioning as a "puppet of Modi". Drawing parallels with the Mahabharata, Yadav described Ramlila Maidan as a Kurukshetra.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, meanwhile, stressed the need to protect voters' constitutional rights and called for a clean electoral register. Tharoor said, "What we need is an absolutely clean election register. It is better to have one or two dead people there than to cut out 130 million real people."
He also said that people had lost faith in the impartiality of the Chief Election Commissioner and called on Gyanesh Kumar to step down.
Congress leader KC Venugopal described the rally as a "stern warning" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Venugopal said the magnitude of public support had affected the composure of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister.
He further asserted, "Gyanesh will be removed from his post. Take it from us."
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also criticised the BJP over allegations concerning missing voter names. Referring to claims about 1.27 crore missing votes in Uttar Pradesh, he questioned the circumstances in which the figures had emerged and accused the ruling establishment of double standards.
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi described the mobilisation as historic, claiming that students, farmers and people from different sections of society had united under the INDIA bloc to safeguard democracy.
Meanwhile, the BJP organised counter-marches in Delhi and Haryana to challenge the Opposition's allegations and question the timing of its rally.
In West Delhi, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta participated in a BJP march beginning in the Sikh-dominated Hari Nagar area and proceeding towards Tilak Nagar Metro Station. The party said the march was intended to remember victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and accused the Congress of organising its rally on the anniversary of the violence.
BJP president Nitin Nabin also led a 'Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao' march in Rohtak, Haryana, to counter the INDIA bloc's campaign.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah criticised the Congress over the rally's timing, saying it would "only rub salt in the wounds" of the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. He said the Congress had been advised against holding the programme on November 1, considering the date's significance for the Sikh community.
BJP leader JP Nadda also attacked the Opposition rally, describing it as a "foolish, orchestrated drama". He accused the Congress of attempting to create political instability and criticised the party for holding the demonstration on the anniversary of the 1984 violence.
The two rival political programmes prompted extensive security arrangements across the national capital. According to reports, nearly 10,000 police and paramilitary personnel were deployed across Central and New Delhi, while more than 4,000 personnel were stationed around Ramlila Maidan and its adjoining areas.
Security arrangements included barricading, CCTV surveillance, drones and screening measures. The Delhi Traffic Police also announced restrictions and diversions on several roads between 10 am and 5 pm, with movement around Minto Road and adjoining areas expected to be affected.
The rally also triggered concerns among Delhi's trading community, with traders' organisations warning that traffic restrictions and the large gathering could affect business during the festive shopping season.
Rahul Gandhi had earlier appealed to people attending the rally to support local traders by purchasing goods from shops in the capital. However, while travelling towards the protest venue, he alleged that shops in Connaught Place had been forcibly shut. Rahul alleged, "The BJP has forcibly shut down all the shops," claiming that the move had caused losses to local shopkeepers.
The INDIA bloc has maintained that its protest is aimed at protecting voting rights and restoring public confidence in the electoral process, while the BJP has rejected the Opposition's allegations and accused it of attempting to create unrest through political mobilisation.
