Madar (International) - Thousands of protesters took to the streets of India's capital, New Delhi, on Sunday, November 1, 2026, to demand the resignation of the election chief over changes to voter lists that opposition parties say favour Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party, Al Jazeera English reported, citing Reuters.
Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi led the demonstration, the latest in more than a month of protests challenging the revision of electoral rolls and the conduct of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Opposition parties say the exercise removed more than 130 million names from voter lists and disproportionately affected Muslims and other minorities considered unlikely to support the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Election Commission denies favouring any party and says voters whose names were wrongly removed may register again, while the BJP accuses the opposition of undermining democracy by challenging legitimate electoral procedures.
Demonstrators marched from central New Delhi towards the historic Ramlila Maidan ground, waving Indian and party flags. Hundreds of police, some carrying batons and shields, were deployed alongside riot-control vehicles, and officials had announced traffic diversions ahead of the march.
Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda dismissed the demonstration as a "carefully orchestrated drama", telling the ANI news agency it was "a calculated conspiracy to plunge the nation into anarchy, all in the name of democracy".
Opposition parties, student organisations and the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party have staged near-daily demonstrations since late September calling for Kumar to step down, after his two deputies raised concerns about the voter-list revisions, registration procedures and digital systems. Analysts describe the protests and growing support for the opposition as Modi's most serious political crisis since he took office in 2014. The next general election is due in 2029.
