Supporters gather at Ramlila Maidan as Delhi Police say no permission was sought for INDIA bloc march; BJP holds Rohtak counter-march
Supporters began gathering at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on Sunday morning while police said no formal permission had been sought for the INDIA bloc’s march, deployed about 10,000 personnel, and the BJP staged a counter-march in Rohtak.
Supporters of the opposition INDIA bloc began gathering at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on Sunday morning for a rally against alleged irregularities in the revision of electoral rolls, hours before a planned march through central Delhi that police say was never formally approved. Congress workers and supporters of Left parties were among those arriving in the capital in the morning, with police personnel already present at the venue as preparations for a large gathering continued.
The day’s programme, billed as “Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao”, centres on a “Chalo Dilli” march scheduled to begin at noon from the Minto Road–Connaught Place junction and end at Ramlila Maidan, where the rally is permitted between 10 am and 5 pm. Opposition leaders including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi are expected to take part, and the bloc is demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over what it alleges are large-scale deletions from voter lists during the Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, exercise.
Delhi Police said on Sunday morning that no formal permission had been sought or granted for the march itself, while the rally at Ramlila Maidan had been permitted. Police added that they were coordinating with the organisers to facilitate the march. Around 10,000 police and paramilitary personnel are expected to be deployed along the route and around the venue, with barricades, CCTV surveillance and additional forces on standby to manage crowd movement. Senior officers have estimated that around 50,000 people could attend.
Traffic across central Delhi is also affected. Delhi Police issued an advisory restricting movement and diverting traffic from 10 am to 5 pm around ITO, Delhi Gate, Rajghat, Ajmeri Gate, Turkman Gate and other points near the route, and commuters have been advised to avoid key stretches in the area for the duration of the rally.
The protest has drawn a parallel political programme from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. BJP president Nitin Nabin is leading a “Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao” march in Rohtak, Haryana, on the same day, with Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini expected to attend, while former Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan is taking part in a similar march in Faridabad. The BJP has described the opposition’s campaign as misinformation and orchestrated chaos, a characterisation the opposition rejects.
Traders in central Delhi have also raised concerns about the day. The Chamber of Trade and Industry said in a letter to Rahul Gandhi that the rally could disrupt business across 20 markets, potentially affecting around 2.5 lakh shops and halting transport within a 10-kilometre radius, and put daily festive-season trade worth an estimated Rs 10,000–12,000 crore at risk. Gandhi responded in a video message on Saturday urging people travelling to Delhi for the protest to also shop from local traders during the festive season, saying the rally would not hurt businesses and accusing the BJP of spreading rumours.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said on Sunday that the rally was a “stern warning” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, and claimed the government had lost its composure in the face of public support for the protest. He also said it would be good for the police if they cooperated with the demonstration. The Election Commission has not been reported as responding to the latest demands in Sunday’s live coverage.
Sunday’s rally follows a symbolic “public impeachment” of the chief election commissioner staged by the INDIA bloc on Saturday at Kharge’s residence in Delhi, after rain delayed the event by a day. Former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar presided over the proceedings, in which participants adopted a motion by a show of hands and levelled six charges against Kumar, including conspiring with the BJP to steal elections, deleting 13.2 crore voters through the SIR exercise, and acting at the behest of Modi and Shah. Those are the opposition’s allegations; they have not been established by any court or official inquiry in the reporting of the event.
Other details from Sunday morning’s build-up underline how the protest is being staged. The Indian Youth Congress has said some participants will wear white clothes to symbolise voters allegedly marked as dead or deleted from the rolls, while Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri criticised the choice of 1 November for the rally, pointing to the anniversary of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and calling the date insensitive. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited Ramlila Maidan on Saturday evening to review preparations, accompanied by senior Congress organisers.
What happens next will be decided on the streets of central Delhi around noon, when the march is due to set off, and then at Ramlila Maidan, where opposition leaders are expected to address the gathering through the afternoon. Whether the march proceeds smoothly despite the permission dispute, how large the crowd proves to be, and how the competing BJP marches in Haryana are received will shape the political argument in the days ahead, as the row over the electoral rolls continues to dominate the opposition’s campaign.
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