Thousands rally in New Delhi to demand resignation of India’s election chief | Narendra Modi News
Hundreds of police officers, some carrying batons and shields, are deployed around the rally site.
Published on November 1, 2026
Thousands of protesters took to the streets of the Indian capital, New Delhi, to demand the resignation of the election chief over changes to the electoral rolls that opposition parties say favor Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party.
Indian National Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi led Sunday’s protest, the latest in more than a month of protests challenging the revision of electoral rolls and the conduct of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
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Opposition parties claimed the exercise, which removed more than 130 million names from electoral rolls, disproportionately affected Muslims and other minorities seen as unlikely to support Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Electoral Commission denied favoring any party and said voters whose names were wrongly removed could re-register.
The BJP has accused opposition parties of undermining democracy by challenging legitimate election procedures. The next general elections in India will be held in 2029.
Authorities stepped up security measures and announced traffic detours before protesters marched from central New Delhi to the historic Ramlila Maidan grounds.
Hundreds of police officers, some carrying batons and shields, were deployed around the rally site alongside riot vehicles. The protesters waved Indian flags and party flags as opposition leaders traveled in an open-top jeep.
Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda called the protest a “carefully orchestrated drama.”
“What is happening today at Ramlila Maidan is not an act of respect for democracy,” he told news agency ANI. “It is a conspiracy calculated to plunge the nation into anarchy, all in the name of democracy.”
Opposition parties, student organizations and the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party have held near-daily protests since late September, calling for Kumar’s resignation.
The protests began after Kumar’s two deputies raised concerns over revisions to voter rolls, registration procedures and digital systems.
Analysts have described the protests and growing support for the opposition as the most serious political crisis Modi has faced since taking office in 2014.
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