NEW DELHI, Nov 1 (Reuters) – Thousands protested in Delhi on Sunday (November 1, 2026) to demand the resignation of India’s election chief over a revision of voter lists, the latest in more than a month of opposition demonstrations.
Led by Rahul Gandhi, a leader of the opposition Congress Party, Sunday’s protesters say the revision benefits Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
Authorities tightened security and warned of traffic diversions before protesters began a march from central Delhi to the designated rally site, where thousands had already assembled.
Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda, however, called the protest a “carefully orchestrated drama”.
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“What is unfolding today at Ramlila Maidan is not an act of respect for democracy. It is a calculated conspiracy to plunge the nation into anarchy, all in the name of democracy,” he told news agency ANI.
Hundreds of security personnel, some of them carrying batons and shields and accompanied by riot-control vehicles, surrounded the historic Ramlila Maidan ground as hundreds of people, many waving national and party flags, began moving towards it. Opposition party leaders led the march in an open-top jeep.
Speaking at the rally, Gandhi said Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar would have to vacate his post, and his removal would be the first step towards bringing the country “back on the right track”.
The voter roll purge “is the theft of the voice of every single citizen of India. It is the theft of every citizen’s right to expression,” Gandhi said from the stage. “This is an act of betrayal against the nation. This is treason.”
Among the protesters listening to him was Reena Mahto, a member of the Congress’ student wing, who said four people from her family had been deleted from the voter list due to a false record that they had moved elsewhere.
The change to voter rolls removed over 130 million names — more than the population of Japan. Opposition parties allege the deletions disproportionately affected Muslim voters and members of other minorities who are unlikely to support the BJP.
The Election Commission says the aim of the voter revision is to update voter lists to remove duplicate and ineligible voters. It has denied favoring any party and said wrongly deleted voters can re-enroll. The BJP has accused rivals of trying to undermine democracy by questioning legitimate electoral processes.
The demonstration is the latest in a series of near-daily protests that opposition parties, student organizations and the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party have held since late September demanding the resignation of the election chief.
The protests erupted after the Indian Express newspaper reported that Kumar’s two deputies had raised several concerns internally about voter list revisions, registration procedures and digital systems.