INDIA Bloc Holds Mega Rally in Delhi Over Alleged Electoral Roll Bias

Opposition leaders staged a mega rally at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan to protest against alleged electoral irregularities, while the BJP dismissed the event as a failure and criticized the Opposition for targeting the Election Commission.

Opposition Holds Mega Rally Against Electoral Roll Allegations

The INDIA bloc on Sunday held a mega rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan against alleged irregularities in electoral rolls and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, with top Opposition leaders, including Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, attending the event. The march started from the Minto Road-Connaught Place junction towards Ramlila Maidan, where thousands of supporters converged.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar of facilitating alleged vote theft and said he would be removed from his post and jailed. Addressing the rally, Rahul Gandhi said the protest represented the voice of the country and was not associated with any particular political party or leader. He accused the CEC of attempting to silence the voice of the nation and asserted that the Opposition would continue its fight to protect the Constitution through peaceful and democratic means. He claimed that action would be taken against the CEC and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah would not have reached their respective positions without him. “Listen to me. What I say always turns out to be true, doesn’t it? I am telling every citizen and every youth of India: Gyanesh Kumar will be removed from the post of Chief Election Commissioner. Gyanesh Kumar will go to jail. Without Gyanesh Kumar, neither Narendra Modi would have become Prime Minister nor Amit Shah would have become Home Minister,” he said.

Claims of Electoral Manipulation and Vote Theft

Rahul Gandhi alleged that vote theft had taken place in several Assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections through manipulation of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and changes to electoral rolls. He also claimed that 15 per cent of India’s voters were removed from electoral rolls after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “For years, vote theft has been happening in this country. Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections: in all these elections, vote theft has occurred. Votes have been stolen through EVMs and by deleting and adding names to voter lists,” he said.

Describing the 2024 Lok Sabha election as stolen, he said, “It was a stolen election. I am not the one saying this; the Election Commission is saying this.” Raising concerns over farmers’ rights, unemployment and wealth concentration, he said the country should not belong to only a few people and called for the removal of Gyanesh Kumar as the first step towards bringing it back on the right track.

Opposition Leaders Voice Strong Dissent

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh of coming to power through what he termed “vote theft”. “Who votes for them? They choose themselves. The public does not elect them. The current central government, as well as the governments in Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, are all governments of vote theft. We must remove these thieves,” Kharge said. Calling for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s removal, he said, “Only if Modi goes will democracy survive. We must remove Modi to save democracy.”

Mamata Banerjee said people in Bengal were victims of the SIR exercise and asserted that she would continue the fight against it. “We will not give up. We will give our lives, we will fight, but we will not surrender,” she said, adding that the fight to protect democracy would continue through political and democratic means.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav described the gathering at Ramlila Maidan as the “Haldighati of democracy” and said the BJP and its allies would not return to power in Uttar Pradesh after the 2027 Assembly elections. He also accused the BJP of using the Election Commission to pursue its political objectives. “Those who once came from UP will be driven out from UP itself. The people of UP know how to welcome and how to bid farewell even better. In 2027, such a farewell will happen that the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies will not be able to return again. Today, Ramlila Maidan has turned into the Haldighati of democracy. The massive public support and slogans of revolution are proof that change can happen at any moment,” Yadav said.

BJP Dismisses Rally as a Flop

Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched a counterattack against the INDIA bloc, accusing the Opposition of disrupting Parliament, spreading negativity and taking parliamentary issues to the streets. “Lying, spreading chaos, propagating negativity, obstructing the functioning of Parliament, and taking parliamentary issues to the streets to create a ruckus—if this has been your nature, then get ready to spend another five years in the opposition,” Shah said in Chandigarh.

BJP MP Sambit Patra questioned the INDIA bloc’s claim that 10 lakh people would attend the rally, alleging that a significant portion of Ramlila Maidan remained vacant. Patra claimed that around 5,000 to 7,000 chairs out of the 28,000 at the venue were vacant between 3.30 pm and 4 pm. He also alleged that 40 per cent of the ground was empty. “You can see in the background that 40 per cent of the Ramlila Maidan, 40% of the space, was vacant. Rahul Gandhi and his team claimed that 10 lakh people would attend. Out of 28,000 chairs, around 5,000–7,000 were empty at 3:30–4 PM. This is the reality behind Congress’s claim of 10 lakh attendees,” he said.

Responding to Rahul Gandhi’s allegations about the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Patra pointed out that Gyanesh Kumar became Chief Election Commissioner in 2025 and was not in the position during the 2024 polls. “Rahul Gandhi said the 2024 election was illegal. Gyanesh Kumar was not even there during the 2024 elections. He became the Election Commissioner in 2025,” Patra said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianetnews Editorial staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)