INDIA Bloc Holds “Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao” Maha Rally at Ramlila Maidan

NEW DELHI — Thousands of supporters of the opposition INDIA bloc converged on Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on Sunday for a mega “Chalo Dilli” / “Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao” rally. The gathering, preceded by a march from the Connaught Place–Minto Road junction, targeted alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Senior leaders from Congress, Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress and other alliance partners addressed the crowd under heavy security, with Delhi Police deploying thousands of personnel and dividing the ground into multiple zones.

HINDI TUTION

Organisers had projected a large turnout (some claims reached toward one million), while police and BJP estimates put attendance far lower, with the latter noting significant empty space at the venue later in the afternoon. The event followed a symbolic “public impeachment” exercise against the CEC the previous day and coincided with the anniversary of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, drawing criticism from BJP leaders who called the timing insensitive.

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Rahul Gandhi (Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha), addressing the gathering, described alleged post-2024 voter deletions as “treason” and a “rarest of rare” case of theft of citizens’ voices. He claimed roughly 13.5 crore names (about 15 percent of voters) had been removed after the Lok Sabha polls, in which the NDA’s margin was only around 3 percent, rendering the election “illegal” and “stolen.” He said Gyanesh Kumar “will go to jail” and that “without Gyanesh Kumar, Narendra Modi wouldn’t have become Prime Minister and Amit Shah wouldn’t be Home Minister.” Responding to remarks that the Prime Minister was not going anywhere, Gandhi declared: “He will not be allowed to run anywhere. After Gyanesh Kumar, we will come for you. Legal action will be taken.” He added that removing the CEC was “the first step to get the country on the right track,” criticised concentration of wealth with a few business houses, and stated that his “religion is the voice of the people.”

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Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress president) called BJP-led governments at the Centre and in states including Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh “governments of vote theft” or “chori governments.” He accused Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah of trying to snatch votes of Dalits, youth and women through the CEC (whom he referred to as “Ganesh Kumar”) and warned that even if Kumar “hides underground, we will find him.” Kharge’s repeated slogan was “Modi hatao, loktantra bachao” (“Remove Modi to save democracy”). He urged the crowd to fight until the CEC’s exit and described the gathering as a necessary “Mahabharata” against those who steal votes.

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Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party chief  Akhilesh Singh) described Ramlila Maidan as the “Haldighati of democracy.” He alleged the deletion of 1.27 lakh Hindu voters’ names in Uttar Pradesh (equivalent to roughly 31,000 votes per assembly constituency) and said the Election Commission had ignored SP complaints. He predicted that those who came to power at the Centre through Uttar Pradesh would be voted out of the state, noting that “UP wallahs are good at welcoming but better at send-offs,” and asserted that change (“parivartan”) could arrive anytime, with the 2027 elections delivering a decisive farewell to the BJP and its allies. He also remarked that “sinners will be destroyed” and referenced alleged “chanda chori.”

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Neha Bora (AISA national president and student activist), who had earlier publicly backed the rally and urged citizens to attend “to protect their voting rights and uphold the sanctity of democracy,” addressed the stage for the first time alongside senior opposition leaders. One widely quoted line was: “In the future, when the history of India’s democracy is written, the BJP and the RSS will only find a place in the dustbin.”

Other leaders present included Mamata Banerjee, Tejashwi Yadav, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Farooq Abdullah and representatives of Left parties. The opposition’s core demands remain the CEC’s resignation, a halt to the SIR process, restoration of deleted names, and, in some statements, a return to paper ballots. BJP leaders, including Union ministers, dismissed the event as an orchestrated drama by a rejected opposition aimed at creating anarchy, defaming institutions and disrupting the festive season, while noting the date’s sensitivity for the Sikh community.

The rally marks a fresh escalation in the INDIA bloc’s campaign against alleged electoral manipulation ahead of upcoming state elections.