Sonia, Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee among INDIA bloc leaders marching to Ramlila Maidan, demanding CEC's removal | LIVE

Senior INDIA bloc leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav and Mamata Banerjee, marched from Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence towards Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on Sunday (November 1, 2026) in an open bus, for the alliance’s rally demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged electoral irregularities.

Supporters have gathered at the venue and party workers at locations across the capital. Posters announcing the INDIA bloc’s ‘Chalo Delhi’ march were put up outside Ramlila Maidan, as security personnel were deployed at the venue ahead of the Opposition’s mega rally on Sunday (November 1, 2026).

A post by the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) also highlighted the rally, with preparations underway ahead of the event. The bloc carried out a symbolic “public impeachment” of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, unanimously adopting a motion by a show of hands on Saturday (October 31).

They levelled six charges against him, including conspiring with the ruling BJP to steal elections, deleting 13.2 crore voters through the special intensive revision (SIR) of voter lists, and acting at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

Rahul Gandhi, in a post on X, said he had told people coming for the march and mega rally to shop in the area. He alleged that, on reaching Connaught Place, he found “the BJP has forcibly shut down every single shop”, and said people should know who was causing losses to traders.

AICC general secretary K C Venugopal on Sunday said the party’s protest rally against CEC Gyanesh Kumar to be held during the day at Ramlila grounds in the national capital was a “stern warning” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Congress has alleged electoral irregularities and demanded the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner. Mr. Venugopal told the media in Delhi that it will be a protest like never before and that it has affected the composure of the PM and Home Minister.

Senior INDIA bloc leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, CPI(M) general secretary M.A. Baby, CPI general secretary D. Raja and CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, reached Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence, from where they proceeded to Minto Road in an open bus to march to Ramlila Maidan.

Supporters have gathered at the venue, and party workers at locations across Delhi, ahead of the protest today (November 1, 2026) against alleged electoral irregularities and demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.

Tribal communities from across the country performed a cultural dance in Connaught Place ahead of the INDIA bloc’s rally at Ramlila Ground. Congress leader and Punjab Congress in-charge Sachin Pilot said the government wants to stop people through pressure and prevent them from voicing their opinions, but neither Rahul Gandhi nor “our people” would back down.

He said “hundreds of thousands” would arrive from across the country today (November 1, 2026) and that traders would see “a lot of business”. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, speaking in Shimla, alleged that Mr.

Gandhi was upset because the names of “infiltrators” had been removed through the SIR. He said the BJP stood with the Election Commission. He asked whether the elections in Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Mr. Gandhi’s own Raebareli seat should be annulled by the same logic, and accused the Congress of “double standards” for claiming votes are “stolen” only where the BJP is in power.

He also made an insulting personal remark against Mr. Gandhi. Mr. Nadda called the Ramlila Maidan rally “a foolish, orchestrated drama”. He alleged that Mr. Gandhi’s politics works in four stages: spreading lies and rumours, inciting street anarchy, damaging the economy, and destabilising an elected government “at the behest of foreign powers”.

He said the rally had four aims, among them to “rub salt into the wounds” of Sikhs and to rob Delhi traders of festive-season earnings. Union Minister J.P. Nadda told Rahul Gandhi that India was “not some ‘banana republic’” where one could “incite arson, trigger riots, or push an agenda for ‘regime change’”.

He called November 1 the “darkest stain” in India’s democratic history, alleging that “goons nurtured by the Congress party” massacred Sikhs on this day in 1984, and said the Gandhi family had never offered a sincere apology.

He accused Mr. Gandhi of insensitivity for holding the rally today (November 1, 2026). Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said the message of the INDIA bloc’s mega protest was “very simple”: “Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao”. He added that it was “not about the Congress” but about the constitutional rights of the Indian people.

CPI(M) MP John Brittas on Sunday (November 1, 2026) described the INDIA bloc rally at Ramlila Maidan as a landmark protest that would have a major impact on the country’s politics. He claimed that more than 10 lakh people would gather and said the ground was already packed before the event began.