India news: Opposition holds major rally in Delhi over voter roll revisions

On November 1, India's political opposition carried out a major rally in New Delhi to protest the nationwide revision of electoral rolls. They accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of favoring Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The Chalo Dilli march, organized by the opposition alliance known as the INDIA bloc, began at Connaught Place in Central Delhi and was set to reach Ramlila Maidan.

Key opposition figures including Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav, and Tejashwi Yadav were expected to attend. The revision process, called Special Intensive Revision (SIR), has led to the purging of around 130 million names from voter rolls, with the opposition alleging that minority voters were disproportionately affected.

The BJP denied these allegations, stating that the SIR aims to remove deceased, relocated, and duplicate voters. The opposition staged a mock impeachment of Gyanesh Kumar, reenacting a parliamentary session in Gandhi's residence. The Delhi Police increased security measures, deploying around 4,000 personnel to Ramlila Maidan, one of the designated protest sites in the capital. Traffic restrictions and diversions were announced to manage the expected large crowd.