Opposition Bloc Holds Mock Impeachment of Election Chief Ahead of Delhi Rally

UPDATE - follow-up to INDIA Bloc to hold mega rally against CEC, SIR today; leaders, supporters begin arriving in Delhi | LIVE: Opposition leaders and supporters are arriving at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan for a mega rally on Sunday, November 1, 2026, to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged electoral irregularities.

The Impeachment

On Saturday, October 31, the INDIA bloc carried out a symbolic "public impeachment" of CEC Gyanesh Kumar by adopting a motion with a show of hands. The bloc levelled six charges against him, including conspiring with the ruling BJP to steal elections, acting for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, and deleting 13.2 crore voters via the special intensive revision of voter lists. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge demanded the immediate removal of the CEC and the scrapping of the 2023 law giving him immunity. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar also took part in the event at Kharge's residence, where the chair used was once occupied by Jawaharlal Nehru.

Reactions and Counter-Claims

The ruling BJP slammed the event as a mockery of democratic institutions, with MP Sambit Patra saying opposition parties had disrupted real parliamentary proceedings. Janata Dal-United spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad called the public impeachment a drama and an extremist attempt to push the country towards anarchy. Meanwhile, voters like Anita Jaiswal shared accounts of having their names dropped from electoral rolls during the special intensive revision exercise despite voting in past elections.

Context

Political rallies at Ramlila Maidan have a long history of serving as major platforms for opposition unity and public demonstrations against central policies in India. Voter list revisions are routine administrative exercises conducted by election authorities, but large-scale updates often face intense political scrutiny over allegations of voter exclusion.