Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has called for a mega rally at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan on November 1 as the INDIA bloc intensifies its campaign against alleged electoral irregularities under the Election Commission of India's (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists.
Billed as the “Save the Vote, Save the Country” Jan March and Mega Rally, the event is being positioned by the Congress as a nationwide mobilisation against what it calls “vote chori” (vote theft). The announcement has triggered a political dispute over the date, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing Gandhi of being insensitive to victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
The Congress, however, has ruled out postponing the rally, insisting that the campaign to protect electoral rights and democracy must continue.
In a post announcing the November 1 programme, Gandhi alleged that voters' names had been removed from electoral rolls, laws had been violated and people questioning the process had faced police action.
“Our votes are being stolen, and we will not tolerate this quietly under any circumstances,” he said, calling for a “Chalo Delhi” march.
“Names have been removed from the voter lists. Rules and laws have been broken. And lathis have been used on those asking questions. Now the country will respond,” Gandhi added.
He urged students, farmers, labourers, women, young people and traders, along with anyone concerned about democracy, to participate in the rally.
“The vote is yours. The fight is also yours,” he said, emphasising that the campaign was not merely a political contest between parties but an issue concerning citizens.
Congress rejects demand to change rally date
The BJP has criticised the Congress for choosing November 1, the anniversary of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, and accused Gandhi of disregarding the feelings of the victims and their families.
The Opposition has maintained that the date will not change. Congress leader Pawan Khera said the BJP was unsettled by the INDIA bloc's earlier mobilisation and was attempting to persuade the party to postpone the rally.
“The BJP is so rattled by the INDIA alliance’s 12 October March, under Rahul Ji’s leadership, that it is getting people to convince us to postpone the 1 November Dilli Chalo March,” Khera said.
“But let’s be clear: the march will happen,” he added, ruling out any change in the schedule.
Khera also defended the choice of date, describing November 1 as “not a democratic disruption, but a pre-emptive celebration of the imminent downfall of the Modi era”. He expressed confidence that the rally would be a grand success.
Gandhi, meanwhile, took a swipe at the BJP and its allies, sarcastically thanking them for helping publicise the event.
“Heartfelt thanks to BJP and its allies, who are promoting this program with such great enthusiasm and reaching it to more and more people,” he said, adding, “Just keep up this same zeal and dedication for the next 7 days!”
The Delhi Police has granted permission for the Congress rally at Ramlila Maidan, issuing a no-objection certificate for the period from October 25 to November 3. The venue has been reserved by the party for the programme.
INDIA bloc seeks CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation
The November 1 rally is part of the INDIA bloc's broader campaign demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise.
The campaign has expanded from protests in Parliament to street demonstrations and legal challenges before the Supreme Court. The Opposition alleges that the revision has resulted in the wrongful removal of eligible voters, while the Election Commission maintains that the exercise is intended to eliminate ineligible entries and improve the accuracy of electoral rolls.
The poll panel has defended the SIR process, citing the removal of deceased, migrated and duplicate voters during the exercise in Bihar.
The latest phase of the revision covers approximately 51 crore electors across nine states and three Union Territories. The scale of the exercise has become a central concern for the Opposition, which argues that large-scale deletions could affect electoral participation if eligible voters are excluded.
Congress general secretary KC Venugopal has described the November 1 programme as the party's biggest mobilisation against “vote chori”. He has said the rally will demonstrate that the Opposition remains united in its effort to protect democracy.
The Congress has also planned a broader campaign involving outreach to voters whose names have allegedly been removed from electoral rolls, with the aim of helping eligible electors restore their registrations.
From Parliament march to Supreme Court challenge
The Opposition's latest mobilisation follows a series of protests against the SIR exercise over the past several months.
On October 12, INDIA bloc leaders, activists and civil society members participated in a “March for Democracy” towards the Supreme Court in Delhi. The procession moved along a heavily barricaded route before the Opposition filed a joint petition challenging the SIR exercise.
The march was the latest in a series of demonstrations seeking accountability from the Election Commission and demanding action over alleged electoral irregularities.
The street campaign had begun much earlier. On August 11, 2025, nearly 300 Opposition MPs led by Gandhi marched from Parliament towards the Election Commission headquarters. Police stopped the procession and took several participants into custody before releasing them.
The demonstration was joined by Sharad Pawar, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and leaders from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Trinamool Congress (TMC), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Left parties.
The march was followed by the Voter Adhikar Yatra, a 1,300-km campaign across more than 20 districts of Bihar. At the launch of the yatra, Gandhi alleged that the Election Commission was working in coordination with the BJP to manipulate electoral rolls.
The poll body rejected the allegation, and the Bihar Assembly elections subsequently went ahead.
Bihar voter deletions at centre of SIR dispute
The Opposition's objections to the SIR exercise have centred on the scale of the changes made to electoral rolls in Bihar.
The state's final voter list, released on September 30, 2025, recorded a decline in the electorate from 7.89 crore to 7.42 crore. The reduction of approximately 47 lakh names represented a fall of around 6% in the total number of electors.
The Opposition has cited the figures as evidence of large-scale deletions, while the Election Commission has said that the exercise removed ineligible entries, including those of deceased and migrated voters and duplicate registrations.
The second phase of the SIR exercise has widened the dispute, with approximately 51 crore electors covered across nine states and three Union Territories.
As an illustration rather than an official estimate, a reduction of 6% across an electorate of 51 crore would amount to nearly 3 crore names. The Opposition has pointed to this hypothetical calculation to highlight the potential scale of deletions it fears, although the actual outcome depends on the verification process in each state and Union Territory.
The Election Commission, for its part, has maintained that the exercise is intended to ensure that electoral rolls are accurate and that ineligible entries are removed.
Political impact of the campaign remains uncertain
The electoral impact of the Opposition's campaign remains a subject of debate among political analysts.
Some analysts have argued that the Voter Adhikar Yatra gave the Congress renewed visibility in Bihar, where the party sought to make alleged electoral irregularities a central political issue. However, SIR did not ultimately emerge as a decisive electoral issue in the state, according to assessments cited in the original report.
The November 1 rally is therefore being viewed as a test of whether the Opposition can sustain the campaign beyond Bihar and turn concerns about electoral rolls into a wider national movement.
For the Congress, the challenge is to translate its allegations and legal arguments into public participation on the streets. The BJP's criticism of the rally's timing has added another dimension to the contest, with both sides seeking to shape the political narrative surrounding the event.
Ramlila Maidan's history adds significance to rally
Ramlila Maidan has long been associated with major political movements and protests in the national capital, making it a significant venue for the Congress's latest mobilisation.
On December 14, 2025, the party held its “Vote Chor Gaddi Chhod” rally at the same ground. Gandhi named senior election officials during the event and alleged that they were working in favour of the BJP.
The venue also has a wider history of political mobilisation. It hosted Jayaprakash Narayan's rally in June 1975, shortly before the Emergency was declared, and Anna Hazare's anti-corruption fast in 2011.
Over the decades, the ground has become a prominent gathering place for Opposition movements seeking to challenge the government or demand political and institutional accountability.
That history adds significance to the November 1 event, which the Congress hopes will demonstrate that its campaign against alleged electoral irregularities has support beyond Parliament and the courts.
With the Congress insisting that the rally will proceed and the BJP continuing to question the choice of date, the scale of participation at Ramlila Maidan will be closely watched. For the INDIA bloc, a substantial turnout would provide an opportunity to demonstrate that its “vote chori” campaign can command national attention. Whether the mobilisation translates into sustained political pressure on the Election Commission and the government remains to be seen.