India's opposition set to hold mega rally seeking election chief's resignation

ByGeeta Pandey and Nikita Yadav BBC News, Delhi.

Key points

• They accuse the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and the BJP of "vote chori (theft)".
• Authorities have deployed thousands of police and paramilitary personnel throughout the city, including the roads leading up to Ramlila Grounds, Sunday's protest venue.
• The Election Commission remarked differences of opinion were normal in any institution and did not affect its functioning.
• The rally, called by the main opposition Congress party, will commence around noon at the famous Ramlila Maidan grounds, with leaders claiming a million residents could attend.
• The rally comes against the backdrop of growing criticism of a voter-list revision exercise that has removed 130 million names from the draft rolls throughout India.

Tens of thousands of individuals are anticipated to gather in the Indian capital, Delhi, for a mega opposition rally, seeking the resignation of chief election commissioner and electoral reforms.

Notably, the rally, called by the main opposition Congress party, will commence around noon at the famous Ramlila Maidan grounds, with leaders claiming a million residents could attend.

Meanwhile, a number of top leaders of the Congress-led INDIA alliance have stated they would attend and the influential Gen Z-led pressure group Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has additionally pledged backing.

In practice, the rally comes against the backdrop of growing criticism of a voter-list revision exercise that has removed 130 million names from the draft rolls throughout India.

For context, the Election Commission of India (ECI) notes the exercise is aimed at updating the voters' list by purging names of residents who have died or moved away from their registered addresses.

But opposition parties allege that the exercise – known as the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) – could benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by removing eligible voters from the rolls. They accuse the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and the BJP of "vote chori (theft)". Both the BJP and the ECI have denied the allegations.

In practice, the controversy intensified in September when The Indian Express newspaper in its investigation, external documented that the CEC, Gyanesh Kumar, produced key decisions related to the exercise without the agreement of the two other election commissioners. This person had raised objections on more than a dozen occasions.

For context, the Election Commission remarked differences of opinion were normal in any institution and did not affect its functioning.

But reservations over the revision process have continued, with the opposition parties, the CJP and student groups organising a number of protests in Delhi and other Indian cities.

Last month, Congress MP and leader of the opposition Rahul Gandhi led tens of thousands of protesters in a march from Connaught Place in central Delhi to the Supreme Court, seeking the CEC's resignation.

"The march was just the trailer, " a party leader informed the BBC, adding that "Sunday's rally will be several times bigger than that".

Ahead of the rally, Gandhi remarked their protest was against "the demolition of Indian democracy", adding that "all the opposition parties and everybody who wants to come, political or non-political, is welcome".

"There is huge anger, huge emotional pain because millions are being disenfranchised, " he remarked.

"We are all standing together since we are defending the Constitution. We are defending the idea of India. We are defending the vote. It is the expression of all Indians."

Delhi police have given permission to hold Sunday's rally, but it comes with a number of conditions. Media reports say the rally must end by 5pm, CCTV cameras must be installed at the venue and no marches will be allowed outside the designated protest site.

In practice, the planned mega rally has additionally divided opinion among traders in Chandni Chowk, one of Delhi's oldest and busiest markets, located less than a kilometre from Ramlila Maidan.

Earlier this week, a group of traders remarked the protest could hurt business during the festive season, coming just a week before Diwali.

But a rival group of traders remarked they backed Gandhi's rally and criticised the BJP for taking out a march through the market on Thursday, saying that disrupted the festive season more.

In practice, the opposition, which has been preparing for the rally for days now, has accused the administration of trying to stop residents from travelling to Delhi to take part in the protest.

Rahul Gandhi has appealed to individuals to turn up in substantial numbers. "Don't worry about the police, don't worry about lathis – the BJP will not have the guts to try any of their antics, " he wrote on X.

His comments come against the backdrop of growing worries regarding the policing of recent protests in the capital.

On 10 October, thousands of security personnel were deployed and sizeable parts of the city were shut down to thwart protests called by the CJP against CEC Gyanesh Kumar.

All of the top CJP leaders were detained and plenty of demonstrators were beaten and dragged through the streets to break up their protests. BBC reporters covering demonstrations saw, external police dragging away protesters and using batons on some of them.

Meanwhile, the CJP has publicly backed the INDIA bloc rally, but it is unclear whether its senior leaders will attend.

Taken together, the developments around india' s opposition set to hold mega rally seeking election chief' s resignation point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.