INDIA Bloc Escalates Election Commission Row, Announces Nationwide Protests and November 1 Rally
NEW DELHI: The INDIA bloc has announced a coordinated nationwide protest campaign against the Election Commission after a meeting of opposition parties in New Delhi on Wednesday. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and other opposition leaders discussed the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the functioning of the poll panel and their demand for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s removal.
The INDIA bloc meeting at the Constitution Club ended with a schedule of protests running through October, followed by a major public rally in Delhi on November 1. The move marks a fresh escalation in the opposition’s campaign against the Election Commission.
INDIA Bloc Meeting Sets Out Protest Schedule
After the INDIA bloc meeting, Kharge announced that opposition parties would hold district-level “Save Democracy” marches and demonstrations from October 2 to 8. Opposition MPs are also scheduled to march to the Election Commission on October 6.
The campaign will culminate in a large public rally in Delhi on November 1, according to the announcement made after the meeting. The opposition says the mobilisation is aimed at defending electoral transparency and raising concerns about the SIR exercise.
The dispute has intensified after reports of differences within the Election Commission over aspects of voter-list revisions. The Commission has maintained that differences during institutional deliberations are normal and that its decisions follow legal procedures.
Election Commission Protest Focuses On SIR And EVMs
The planned Election Commission protest is centred largely on the opposition’s objections to SIR and its wider concerns about the electoral process. Kharge has also called for the use of pre-SIR electoral rolls and a return to ballot-paper voting rather than EVMs.
The opposition’s criticism comes amid a wider debate over voter-list changes. The Election Commission has said its procedures have legal backing, while opposition parties argue that the revision process requires greater transparency.
The latest mobilisation follows earlier Election Commission bypoll preparations, keeping the poll panel at the centre of India’s political debate.
Opposition Leaders Demand Action Against CEC
Kharge has demanded the removal of Gyanesh Kumar, while opposition parties are also preparing parliamentary action against the Chief Election Commissioner. The issue has become a key point of coordination among several INDIA bloc parties.
Rahul Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee have separately criticised the election process and called for stronger opposition coordination. The bloc’s latest decision brings those efforts into a common nationwide campaign.
The Election Commission protest will now move from parliamentary and political criticism to street-level mobilisation, with demonstrations planned across several states before the November 1 rally.
Government And Poll Panel Reject Opposition Claims
The Election Commission has rejected suggestions that internal differences amount to a breakdown in its functioning. It has maintained that its orders have legal sanction and that institutional deliberations can involve differing views.
The opposition, however, says the concerns require political and institutional action. The competing positions are likely to keep the SIR exercise, voter-list revisions and EVMs at the centre of the political debate in the weeks ahead.
With district protests beginning on October 2 and the November 1 rally already announced, the INDIA bloc meeting has turned the Election Commission dispute into a wider coordinated opposition campaign.
