India's opposition parties stage new protest against the country's
election chief
[November 02, 2026]
By RISHI LEKHI
NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s opposition parties on Sunday renewed calls for
the resignation of the country’s election chief, staging a new protest
in the latest display of public dissent against Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s government.
The protest, called by opposition bloc INDIA, drew tens of thousands of
demonstrators, some carrying musical instruments and waving various
flags, as they chanted slogans against the central government's
policies. Several opposition parties of the alliance, formed in 2023 to
unseat Modi, mobilized their cadres from different states for the
protest.
The demonstration came weeks after a police crackdown on protesters in
New Delhi.
Led by Rahul Gandhi, leader of the main opposition Congress party, and
backed by the youth “Cockroach” movement, the protesters called for the
safeguarding of India’s democracy while demanding the resignation of
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over a contentious voter roll
revision.
The protesters gathered at Ramlila Maidan, a sprawling public square in
New Delhi, after police last month withdrew Jantar Mantar from the list
of officially designated venues for demonstrations. The historic
observatory had long served as the capital’s main protest site.
Addressing the rally, Gandhi said that India has faced vote theft for
years.
“I am telling every citizen and every youth of India that Gyanesh Kumar
will have to relinquish his position. Gyanesh Kumar will go to jail,” he
said in Hindi.
Gandhi also accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological
parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, of tightening its
grip on state institutions, from the education system to investigative
agencies.
“Because of this, farmers, laborers and youth are being denied their
rights,” he said.
Authorities deployed thousands of police and paramilitary soldiers and
mounted extensive surveillance, with more than 200 security cameras,
drones and body-worn cameras at the venue and along the protest route,
officials said.
The ongoing review of voter lists has removed more than 130 million
names since last year. Critics say the exercise is politically
motivated, threatens to disenfranchise millions more, and has
disproportionately affected minorities, particularly Muslims.
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India's opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, standing at
right in the first vehicle with other opposition leaders, waves at
the supporters during a protest called by his party and its allies
against the revision of electoral rolls in New Delhi, Sunday, Nov.
1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vipin)
The Election Commission and Modi’s administration deny the
allegations and say the revision is intended to remove duplicate and
ineligible entries.
Human Rights Watch on Thursday said that the accusations over the
voter roll revision raise “serious questions about the fairness of
future Indian elections.”
“The authorities should immediately scrap the voter roll revision
process that has denied India’s most marginalized people their right
to vote and other government services,” said Elaine Pearson, the
group’s Asia director, in a statement.
For weeks, the call for Kumar’s resignation has been a rallying cry
for opposition parties and supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party
seeking to challenge Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP. Opposition
parties, mainly the Congress, say the governing BJP has undertaken
systemic manipulation of the electoral process, accusing the party
of “vote chori,” or vote theft.
Modi hasn't publicly commented on the protests. Some of his party
leaders have dismissed the demonstrators as “anarchists” and
suggested, without offering evidence, that they are backed by
foreign powers.
In July, protests led by the youth “cockroach” movement forced the
resignation of Modi’s education minister, a rare setback for Modi,
who has been in power for more than 12 years. The movement began as
an online satirical campaign this summer after India’s chief justice
compared unemployed young people to parasites.
Suresh Sharma, a protester from northern Haryana state, said that
the country’s system needed reform because democracy was being
throttled.
The process of voter roll revision needs to be scrapped, Sharma
said.
“We demand that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resign and
be arrested,” he said.
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