Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Sunday launched a sharp attack on Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at a massive INDIA bloc rally in the national capital, declaring that the poll chief would be removed from his post and sent to jail, and describing the 2024 Lok Sabha election as illegal and stolen.
The rally, held at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan under the banner "Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao", brought together leaders of the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Left parties and other Opposition groups on a common platform against the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
Top Opposition leaders and supporters from across the country gathered for the INDIA bloc's "Chalo Delhi" protest march, which began from the Minto Road-Connaught Place junction and proceeded towards Ramlila Maidan.
Among those present were Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, and RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav. The gathering followed a public "impeachment" programme against the Chief Election Commissioner held in the national capital on October 31.
Addressing the crowd in Hindi, Gandhi alleged that votes were stolen in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections through electronic voting machines and manipulation of voter lists. "Votes were stolen in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Votes were stolen through EVMs and by tampering with the voter list," he said.
"After the 2024 elections, 15 per cent of voters were removed. In 2024, there was a 3 per cent difference between us, the INDIA bloc, and the BJP-led NDA. The 2024 election was illegal."
He argued that the Election Commission's own data supported his claim, pointing to the removal of around 13.5 crore voters from the electoral rolls since the general election, a figure he described as one in every seven Indians.
"This theft of votes is no ordinary theft. This is the theft of every voice of India. This is called treason," Gandhi told the gathering.
"Without Gyanesh Kumar, neither would Narendra Modi have become Prime Minister nor Amit Shah the Home Minister." He added: "I am telling every citizen and every youth of India: Gyanesh Kumar will be removed from the post of Chief Election Commissioner. Gyanesh Kumar will go to jail."
Gandhi also warned Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of legal action over alleged vote theft, while maintaining that the Opposition's campaign would remain non-violent. "Narendra Modi cannot go anywhere. Even if he wants to go, we will not let him. After Gyanesh Kumar, we will stand against you, and do not forget that for the vote chori you have done, there will be legal action against you," he said.
Gandhi sought to bolster his credibility by citing his earlier warnings, including about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic of 2020-21. "What I say always turns out to be true, doesn't it?" he asked the crowd. He also accused the BJP's ideological parent body, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, of taking control of the country's institutions, "from education to investigative agencies", and said that because of this, farmers, labourers and youth do not get their rights.
Invoking Hindu mythology to describe the India he envisioned, he said: "Anyone can join 'Shiv ji ki baraat', Lord Shiva's wedding procession. No one is stopped. We want such an India."
He added: "We will not let democracy end. We will not let the Constitution be destroyed. No matter how much money you have, you are not bigger than the Constitution. The Constitution is bigger than you."
Speaking before Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh of coming to power through what he termed vote theft, and called for Prime Minister Modi's ouster from office. "Who votes for them? They choose themselves! The public does not elect them. The current central government, as well as the governments in Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, are all governments of vote theft. We must remove these thieves," Kharge said.
"Only if Modi goes will democracy survive," he added.
Other leaders also targeted the Chief Election Commissioner. Mamata Banerjee mocked the poll chief as "Vanish Kumar", while Akhilesh Yadav questioned the deletion of voters' names. The leaders alleged that the Special Intensive Revision exercise was being used to delete genuine voters and sought to turn growing anger over the revision into a united political campaign.
The rally ground, with an official capacity of around 50,000, saw Opposition workers mobilised from several states.
The BJP hit back swiftly. Party president J.P. Nadda termed the INDIA bloc rally against the Chief Election Commissioner a "foolish and designed drama". Union Minister Kiren Rijiju took a dig at the Congress over a photograph of the rally crowd, while the party organised a counter-campaign.
BJP leader and Sambalpur MP Dharmendra Pradhan participated in the party's "Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao", or Save Democracy, End Anarchy, padayatra in Faridabad on Sunday, where he accused Gandhi and the Congress of losing faith in democratic institutions.
He was accompanied by Union Minister of State Krishan Pal Gurjar, Minister of State Rajesh Nagar, Haryana Sports Minister Gaurav Gautam, several MLAs and party workers during the march, organised as part of the BJP's nationwide campaign to counter what it called anarchy being spread by the Congress.
Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, addressing a news conference in Goa, alleged that the Congress and other parties were turning the Special Intensive Revision into a political controversy "for political convenience". He said the revision was a constitutional exercise aimed at strengthening the country's democratic institutions.
"Criticise the government's policies, decisions and perspectives, but what is the basis for opposing the process of preparing clean electoral rolls merely because of political convenience?" he asked. Shekhawat said India had witnessed large-scale migration and urbanisation over the past two decades, resulting in people retaining their names on voter lists at their original places of residence while also registering at new locations.
Citing estimates, he claimed that around 40 crore people had migrated from their native places over the last 20 years, while nearly 20 crore people had died during the same period.
Citing figures from various phases of the revision, Shekhawat said around 13 crore entries had been removed from electoral rolls, including 2.8 crore names of deceased persons, while 1.9 crore new names had been added. He said the revision involved deletion of ineligible entries and inclusion of eligible voters who were previously missing from the electoral rolls. "Is the Congress opposing SIR or electoral accountability? The party should make its position clear," he said, asserting that the credibility of elections depended on the reliability of electoral rolls.
"An election is important, and winning an election is also important, but the sanctity of the electoral process is equally important. The electoral roll is the foundation of the process," he added.
The confrontation over electoral rolls and the Election Commission has been building for months, with the Opposition's "vote chori" campaign becoming its central plank against the government. Sunday's rally was the largest show of Opposition unity on the issue so far, and its rhetoric, particularly Gandhi's prediction of jail for the Chief Election Commissioner, marks a sharp escalation.
How the Election Commission and the government respond in the coming days, and whether the campaign gathers further momentum ahead of upcoming state elections, will be closely watched.
(Reporting based on NDTV and The Indian Express.)