Tens of thousands of people gathered in Delhi on Sunday, November 1, 2026, for a large-scale opposition rally calling for the resignation of India's Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar. The "Save the Vote, Save the Country" event, organized by the INDIA bloc and led by the Congress party, took place at the Ramlila Maidan grounds. Security was heightened throughout the capital, with thousands of police and paramilitary personnel deployed to manage the demonstration.
The rally follows several weeks of protests regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), a voter-roll exercise that has removed 130 million names from India’s draft electoral rolls. The Election Commission of India (ECI) stated the purge is a routine update to remove deceased individuals or those who have moved. However, opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, allege the process is being used to disenfranchise eligible voters to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The controversy was spurred by a September report in The Indian Express, which alleged that Chief Election Commissioner Kumar made critical decisions regarding the SIR despite more than a dozen objections from the other two election commissioners. On Saturday, October 31, opposition leaders held a symbolic "impeachment" of Kumar at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. Prime Minister Modi addressed the situation on Friday, October 30, suggesting that the protests were an attempt by "some people" to create chaos and defame him.
A person whose name was purged would notice the change upon checking the draft electoral rolls; if not corrected, they would be turned away at polling stations. The controversy over how these names were removed—specifically the reports that the Chief Election Commissioner acted without the consensus of his peers—sets a precedent regarding the internal checks and balances of the ECI, an agency tasked with maintaining independent oversight of the world's largest democracy. Traders in Delhi's Chandni Chowk market reported a more immediate economic impact, noting that the protests and high-security cordons disrupted business during the week leading up to Diwali, one of India's busiest shopping seasons.
The ECI has maintained that differences of opinion among commissioners are normal and do not hinder the institution's function. The government has not indicated any plans to pause the SIR or remove Kumar from his post. Under Indian law, a Chief Election Commissioner can only be removed through a formal parliamentary process, making the opposition's mock impeachment purely symbolic. While the Sunday rally was permitted until 5:00 p.m., the ongoing legal and political challenges to the voter list revision suggest further court petitions or legislative motions may follow as parties prepare for future elections.