The removal of 130 million names from draft electoral rolls has raised “serious questions about the fairness of future Indian elections”, Human Rights Watch said.
Opposition parties accuse Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP of using the exercise to manipulate elections, while critics say it has disproportionately affected minorities, particularly Muslims. The BJP and the Election Commission deny those allegations.
An Indian Express report in September said Kumar had made key decisions on the revision despite objections from the two other election commissioners on more than a dozen occasions. Congress then ran a “Save Democracy” campaign from 2 October to 8 October and took its demand for Kumar’s resignation to villages across the country.
The mobilisation followed an October crackdown in Delhi, when thousands of security personnel were deployed against earlier protests and demonstrators were beaten. Police last month also removed Jantar Mantar from the list of officially designated demonstration sites.
On Saturday evening, leaders from the opposition INDIA bloc staged a symbolic impeachment of Kumar at the Delhi residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. Former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar presided over the event, which had no legal standing.
On 1 November, Rahul Gandhi led the opposition’s march from Central Delhi’s Connaught Place Minto Road Junction towards Ramlila Maidan. Gandhi travelled through an almost 1.5 kilometer-long stretch in an open-top jeep, with opposition party leaders seated behind him, and called for a march to “Save the Vote, Save the Nation”.
Tens of thousands of people assembled at Ramlila Maidan for the rally, organised by the INDIA bloc and led by Gandhi’s Congress party. They demanded the withdrawal of the Special Intensive Revision and Kumar’s resignation. The INDIA alliance was formed in 2023 to unseat Modi.
Sonia Gandhi and Kharge attended alongside Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav. Banerjee and Yadav were among opposition leaders joining the multi-party mobilisation in New Delhi.
Protesters carried musical instruments and flags. They chanted ‘Save the vote, save the country’ and ‘Vote thief, give up power’. Suresh Sharma, a protester from Haryana, said: ‘We demand that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resign and be arrested.’
Delhi police permitted the rally on condition that it ended by 5pm. Authorities deployed thousands of police and paramilitary soldiers, with more than 200 CCTV cameras, drones and body-worn cameras covering the venue and protest route.
The Election Commission and Modi’s administration say the Special Intensive Revision removes deceased, relocated and duplicate voters, and helps prevent the inclusion of foreign illegal immigrants. They reject the opposition’s claim that the exercise is politically biased.
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