Opposition leaders from across the INDIA bloc converged at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on Sunday (November 1), launching a sharp attack on the Narendra Modi government and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged electoral manipulation and voter deletions. Addressing the gathering, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the Prime Minister of “stealing votes” and warned that legal action would be taken against those responsible.

The rally, organised under the banner of the ‘Chalo Delhi’ campaign, demanded Kumar’s removal over alleged irregularities in the electoral process, particularly the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls.

Earlier in the day, senior INDIA bloc leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, travelled in an open bus from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence to the venue. Supporters and workers of opposition parties, along with their youth and student organisations, gathered at Ramlila Maidan carrying placards and raising slogans against the SIR exercise.

The rally followed a symbolic “public impeachment” of CEC Gyanesh Kumar by INDIA bloc parties on Saturday (October 31). The gathering unanimously adopted a motion by a show of hands, listing six charges against the poll chief, including conspiring with the ruling BJP to steal elections, deleting 13.2 crore voters through the SIR exercise and acting at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Addressing the rally, Gandhi said he had no personal enmity towards Modi, Shah or Kumar but accused them of undermining the democratic process. He alleged that 13.5 crore voters had been removed from electoral rolls after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, claiming that one in every seven voters, or 15%, had been struck off the lists. He contrasted this with the NDA’s 3% margin over the Opposition in the general election, describing the outcome as “an illegal election, stolen election.”

“I am not saying this. The Election Commission of India is,” he said, arguing that the figures were based on the poll panel’s own removal of names from voter lists.

“This is not regular chori. That someone stole something from a shop. It is theft of the voice of every person,” Gandhi said, describing the alleged electoral manipulation as a “rarest of rare” case and “treason.” He warned that Kumar would “go to jail,” and claimed that “without Gyanesh Kumar, Narendra Modi wouldn’t have become PM and Amit Shah wouldn’t be Home Minister.”

Gandhi further said that elections had been manipulated in Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Karnataka, besides the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. He accused the BJP of using electronic voting machines and manipulating electoral rolls through the deletion and addition of voters’ names.

“We do not hate you or Gyanesh Kumar. We believe in non-violence. But you have attacked the spirit of this country, the constitution of this country. I have no enemies. Modi, Amit Shah or Gyanesh Kumar but for us the voice of people is even more important,” said Gandhi.

“You will not be able to run anywhere. You will remain here. Action will be take against you, Amit Shah and Gyanesh Kumar,” said Gandhi.

Calling Kumar’s removal the first step towards restoring the electoral process, Gandhi also responded to Amit Shah’s remark that Modi was not going anywhere.

“He will not be allowed to run anywhere. After Gyanesh Kumar, we will come for you. Legal action will be taken. You can’t run anywhere.”

Gandhi said the gathering was intended to send a message to the Prime Minister and the Home Minister.

“This is not the voice of a political party. This is the voice of Indian youth, farmers and people,” he said.

He also accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of having “captured all institutions,” arguing that these institutions belonged to the people and not to the RSS or the BJP. Gandhi alleged that the government was favouring a handful of business houses at the expense of farmers and ordinary citizens.

“All the money has gone to a few people — Adani, Ambani… Their loans are waived. But if a farmer’s son wants money and can’t repay a loan, they are sent to jail,” he said. “We don’t want a country where everything belongs to Adani.”

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge described the gathering as a “historic meeting” and accused Modi and Shah of attempting to “steal” the votes of women, young people and Dalits. He said the INDIA bloc had assembled to resist what he described as an attack on the right to vote.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also accused the BJP of electoral wrongdoing and referred to the alleged theft of donations at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. “Those who did vote chori, chanda chori and chadhawa chori will be finished,” he said.

Yadav claimed that the BJP was beginning to recognise that the ongoing voter revision exercise could also affect its own supporters. Referring to the recent claim by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath that 1.27 crore Hindu voters were missing from the state’s electoral rolls, he said the BJP had begun expressing concern after the INDIA bloc raised the issue.

“I’m seeing the voice being raised in Ramlila Maidan. And since the announcement was made that we’ll gather here… Since then I’ve heard that they also want to join us. In UP today, when this rally was happening here, it was said by BJP in UP that 1.27 crore Hindu votes were deleted. It is because of the INDIA bloc’s voice that BJP is now realising that their votes are also being cut,” SP chief said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, addressing the gathering, said the people of her state were among those most affected by the SIR exercise. She accused the BJP of looting Bengal and vowed to resist the revision through democratic and political means.

“Bengal is the victim of the circumstances of this SIR. We will not give up. We will give our lives, we will fight, but we will not surrender. They looted our Bengal. We will save democracy and bring it back. We will take revenge through politics. We will take revenge through democracy. We will fight,” she said.

Congress MP Randeep Surjewala described the rally as the beginning of a nationwide people's movement against alleged attacks on constitutional institutions and electoral rights.

“A people’s revolution has begun in the country. The throne of the 'emperor' is shaking, and the people of this nation are sending a clear message: neither will attacks on the Constitution be tolerated, nor will the theft of votes. This clarion call—raised from Ramlila Maidan under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and the entire opposition—will resonate across every corner of the country,” Surjewala said, reported ANI.

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah also addressed the gathering, asserting that every citizen had equal rights under the Constitution, including the right to vote. He criticised the BJP and RSS for what he described as attempts to portray Muslims as outsiders and question their commitment to India.

"These people point fingers at Muslims and call them Pakistanis. I want to tell the BJP and RSS: We have given our blood for India. We gave it in the past, we are giving it today, and we will give it tomorrow," he said, reported ANI.

"This is Ambedkar's Constitution. This is India's Constitution. We are all equal, and everyone has an equal vote. Jammu and Kashmir was, is and will remain a part of India. They will not be able to separate it," he declared.

With opposition leaders from several states joining the rally, the INDIA bloc sought to turn the dispute over the SIR and the functioning of the Election Commission into a broader campaign around electoral rights and constitutional accountability.

The leaders called for Kumar’s removal and pledged to continue their political and legal challenge to the alleged voter deletions.