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Rahul Gandhi calls for ‘Chalo Dilli’ march at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan against CEC on November 1
The protest has extended beyond Parliament, with Opposition leaders taking their concerns to the streets and raising the issue before the SC on October 12.
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Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi on Sunday gave a “Chalo Delhi” call for the INDIA bloc’s march and mega rally at Ramlila Maidan on November 1. In a post on X, he alleged that voters’ names are being deleted from electoral rolls and urged students, farmers, workers, women, youth and traders to join what he described as a fight to save democracy.
“Our votes are being stolen, and we will not tolerate this quietly under any circumstances,” Gandhi said. “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.”
Deep Dive
The Opposition’s “vote chori” campaign has focused on alleged irregularities in the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with the INDIA bloc demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The protest has extended beyond Parliament, with Opposition leaders taking their concerns to the streets and raising the issue before the Supreme Court on October 12.
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November 1: 1984 anti-Sikh riots
The BJP has attacked the choice of date. The party said Gandhi was “adamant” on November 1, the anniversary of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, and accused him of hurting the feelings of victims. The Election Commission has defended the SIR, saying that in Bihar the exercise weeded out names of the deceased, migrated and duplicate voters
“Save vote, save country”
Gandhi titled his message “Save the Vote, Save the Country” and billed the event as a “Jan March and Mega Rally”. He framed the contest as one that belongs to citizens and not only to political parties. “The vote is yours. The fight is also yours,” he said.
He asked every section of society to turn up at Ramlila Maidan. “Students, farmers, laborers, women, youth, and traders, anyone who cares about democracy must come,” Gandhi said, widening the appeal beyond the party’s traditional base.
The post ended with a jab at the ruling party. “Heartfelt thanks to BJP and its allies, who are promoting this program with such great enthusiasm and reaching it to more and more people,” Gandhi wrote. He added: “Just keep up this same zeal and dedication for the next 7 days!”
The remark was aimed at the BJP’s criticism of the rally since Saturday. By thanking the ruling party for “promoting” the event, Gandhi sought to turn the date controversy into free publicity for the march.
Backing the leader’s line, Congress media and publicity department chairman Pawan Khera said the BJP is rattled by the INDIA bloc’s earlier show of strength and is trying to get the rally postponed. “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 date.
Khera also repeated the call for a broad turnout. “Students, farmers, workers, women and young people, everyone who cares about democracy will come together to raise their voice against Vote Chori,” he said.
He then turned to Delhi’s traders, whom he accused the BJP of using as a political tool. “They will not only join the march but also benefit from the increased footfall and business it brings to the city,” Khera said. There was no immediate response from trade bodies in the Capital to his claim.
Khera ended with a political prediction. “1 November is not a democratic disruption,” he said. “It is a pre-emptive celebration of the imminent downfall of the Modi era. And it will be a grand success.”
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The October 12 event he referred to was the INDIA bloc’s “March for Democracy” to the Supreme Court. Opposition leaders, activists and civil society members walked along a heavily barricaded route in Delhi and filed a joint petition challenging the SIR. Congress general secretary K C Venugopal has called the November 1 march the party’s biggest against “vote chori” and said it will show the Opposition is united in protecting democracy.
The street campaign began well before this month. On August 11, 2025, nearly 300 Opposition MPs led by Gandhi marched from Parliament towards the Election Commission headquarters, and were stopped by police and taken into custody before being released. Sharad Pawar, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and leaders of the DMK, TMC, AAP, RJD and Left parties joined that march.
It was followed by the 1,300-km Voter Adhikar Yatra across more than 20 districts of Bihar. At its launch, Gandhi alleged that the Election Commission was working hand in glove with the BJP to manipulate electoral rolls. The poll body rejected the charge, and the Bihar elections went ahead.
The numbers lie at the heart of the dispute. Bihar’s final voter list, released on September 30, 2025, showed electors falling from 7.89 crore to 7.42 crore. That is a drop of 47 lakh names, or roughly 6 per cent. The Opposition reads it as mass deletion, while the Election Commission says it removed ineligible entries.
The scale of the exercise is now much larger. The Election Commission announced a second phase covering about 51 crore electors across nine states and three Union Territories. As an illustration only, and not an official estimate, a similar 6 per cent reduction on 51 crore would mean nearly 3 crore names. That is the scale of deletion the Opposition says it fears.
Political analysts are divided on the campaign’s electoral impact. Some said the Bihar march gave the Congress a new lease of life in the state, but that SIR ultimately did not become a decisive electoral issue. The Ramlila Maidan rally is seen as a test of whether the issue can be sustained nationally.
Ramlila Maidan is familiar ground for the Congress on this subject. On December 14, 2025, the party held its “Vote Chor Gaddi Chhod” rally at the same venue, where Gandhi named the top election officials and alleged that they were working for the BJP.
The ground also carries a larger political memory. It hosted Jayaprakash Narayan’s rally in June 1975 on the eve of the Emergency, and Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption fast in 2011. Every major Opposition movement in Delhi has, sooner or later, looked to this maidan.
That history explains why both sides are watching November 1 so closely. The Congress says the march will go ahead and the BJP continues to question its timing. Whether the date row dents the turnout, or adds to it as Gandhi claims, will be clear a week from now at Ramlila Maidan. What the Opposition needs from that crowd is proof that a charge made in Parliament and in court can also fill a maidan.
