NEW DELHI, NOV 1 (PTI): The opposition INDIA bloc on Sunday demanded the BJP’s ouster from power over allegations of “vote chori”, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asserting that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar would be removed and jailed for treason, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah would also face legal action.
Addressing a massive rally at Ramlila Maidan, opposition leaders accused the BJP of manipulating elections and electoral rolls to form governments at the Centre and in states. They vowed to fight to protect the Constitution and democracy, demanding Kumar’s removal and scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Gandhi alleged that the Election Commission had colluded with the BJP to steal citizens’ votes. Claiming that 13.3 crore voters had been removed from the 2024 electoral rolls, he described the Lok Sabha election as “illegal” and said the alleged manipulation amounted to treason.
He claimed that the NDA’s vote margin over the opposition was only 3%, while 15% of voters had been removed from the rolls. Gandhi said Kumar’s role had been crucial to Modi becoming Prime Minister and Shah Home Minister.
“I want to say to you, Gyanesh Kumar will be removed from the CEC post. Gyanesh Kumar will go to jail,” he said, adding that action against the CEC would be the first step before taking on Modi and Shah.
Gandhi, however, said the opposition did not promote violence or harbour hatred towards the Prime Minister, Shah or Kumar, but would not allow the Constitution to be destroyed.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused Modi and Shah of shielding the CEC and attempting to deprive Dalits, youth and women of their voting rights. He said removing Modi from power was essential to saving democracy and alleged that the BJP and the Election Commission were working together to add or delete voters to favour the ruling party.
“Modi jayega to hi loktantra bachega (Only when Modi goes will democracy survive),” Kharge said.
Several prominent opposition leaders attended the rally, including former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, CPI(M) leader M.A. Baby, CPI leader D. Raja, NCP-SP’s Supriya Sule and Shiv Sena-UBT’s Sanjay Raut. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, K.C. Venugopal and civil society representatives were also present.
Akhilesh Yadav described Ramlila Maidan as the “Haldighati of democracy”, saying the turnout indicated an impending political change. He alleged that electoral manipulation had prevented the INDIA bloc from forming the government in Uttar Pradesh in 2022 and asserted that those who came to power through the state would also be sent out from there.
Yadav also referred to recent MLC polls, claiming that voters in Varanasi had reduced the BJP’s “double-engine” government to a “double zero”.
Banerjee alleged that the West Bengal election had been hijacked and accused the BJP of using the SIR exercise to target states governed by non-NDA parties. She said her party would fight democratically and called for unity across communities and political affiliations against the BJP. She also expressed support for the Congress leadership, Gen Z activists and Left parties.
Tejashwi Yadav likened the fight against alleged vote theft to the Mahabharata, comparing those accused of manipulating elections to Shakuni. He called Kumar a BJP “minion” and demanded that he be tried for treason and jailed. Former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, along with Left leaders M.A. Baby and Dipankar Bhattacharya, also addressed the gathering.
Flop show, ground empty, says BJP: The BJP, however, dismissed the rally as a “chaotic, unruly spectacle” and accused Gandhi of making baseless allegations against the Prime Minister. BJP president Nitin Nabin alleged that Gandhi was acting at the behest of foreign powers to create unrest.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra described the rally as a “flop show”, claiming that 40% of the ground was empty and that people had left while Gandhi was speaking. He dismissed the crowd images as “trick photography” and said allegations that the 2024 election was illegal should be pursued through a court petition rather than political rallies. Patra also questioned the timing of the opposition’s challenge, pointing out that Kumar had been appointed CEC after the 2024 Lok Sabha election.