New Delhi, 1 November: The opposition INDIA bloc is holding a large protest in the national capital on Sunday, with the Ramlila Maidan rally as the centre of a day of marching and speeches. The event, billed as “Chalo Dilli”, is aimed at the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and at Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, whose resignation the alliance is demanding. Leaders and supporters from several states began arriving in Delhi ahead of the Ramlila Maidan rally, and the organisers have appealed to students, young people, women, workers and civil society groups to join.
The Ramlila Maidan rally is scheduled to run from 10 am to 5 pm at Ramlila Maidan. A march is due to start at noon from the Minto Road-Connaught Place junction and make its way to the venue, where senior leaders are expected to address the crowd. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was expected to travel in an open bus from his residence to the starting point of the march, according to reports ahead of the event. The gathering follows a signature campaign by the Congress against Kumar and a symbolic proceeding against him held a day earlier.
What the Ramlila Maidan rally is about
The alliance has framed the Ramlila Maidan rally around three demands. It wants Kumar to resign, the SIR to be scrapped, and a return to ballot papers for Lok Sabha and assembly elections. Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal described the mobilisation as “Chalo Dilli, Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao”, which translates as “March to Delhi, Save the Vote, Save the Nation”. In a video message posted on X on Thursday, he alleged that democracy was under attack and that the voter revision exercise was being used to remove legitimate voters.
Venugopal alleged that 13 crore names had been deleted from electoral rolls, calling it a massive fraud unfolding state after state. That figure is an allegation by the opposition. The Election Commission and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have rejected the opposition’s “vote theft” allegations, and the BJP has argued that the revision exercise is still under way and that names absent from draft lists are not the same as votes stolen. Readers should treat the 13 crore figure as a claim made by the opposition, disputed by the ruling party, rather than as an established count.
Security plans for the Ramlila Maidan rally
Delhi Police put an extensive security plan in place for the Ramlila Maidan rally. More than 4,000 police personnel, along with Central Armed Police Forces units, were deployed along the route and around the venue. Ramlila Maidan was divided into 14 security zones, each supervised by an Assistant Commissioner of Police. Surveillance included more than 200 CCTV cameras, drones, body-worn cameras and an on-site control room.
Estimates of the crowd differed sharply before the Ramlila Maidan rally began. INDIA bloc leaders expected a turnout of up to 10 lakh people, while Delhi Police estimated around 50,000. Section 163 was in force across Delhi districts, and gatherings were prohibited at certain locations, including Jantar Mantar and the Election Commission office. Leaders were allowed to reach the designated venues in their personal vehicles, and police and paramilitary personnel were posted at Ramlila Maidan well before the scheduled start.
The BJP response to the Ramlila Maidan rally
At a press conference on Saturday, BJP MP Sambit Patra rejected the opposition’s allegations and said the SIR had been conducted 10 times during Congress rule. He argued that if 13 crore votes had truly been stolen, people would have taken to the streets, and he said that not a single person’s vote had been stolen. Patra also gave the BJP’s explanation for names missing from draft rolls, saying about 12 crore voters had permanently shifted, about 6 crore of them had already filled in Form 6 to be included, and notices had been sent to others still in the process. The BJP also planned a march starting at 11 am in Hari Nagar in West Delhi on the same day.
Patra said about 2.8 crore names were deleted because of deaths and nearly 1 crore duplicate entries were removed. He said only a declaration had been added to Form 6, rather than the form itself being amended, and cited a Supreme Court judgment dated 27 May 2026 on the point. He also said the Election Commission had clarified that decisions on the SIR were taken unanimously by all three Election Commissioners. The opposition disputes that account, and the argument over the rolls is now set to continue in Parliament and on the streets after the Ramlila Maidan rally.