INDIA bloc leaders march to Vijay Chowk to demand election chief's removal

What happened at Vijay Chowk

On Friday, opposition MPs belonging to the INDIA bloc marched from Parliament House towards Rashtrapati Bhavan to protest against the functioning of the Election Commission of India.

Carrying a large "Save Democracy" banner and raising slogans, the lawmakers were stopped by police barricades at Vijay Chowk. Denied passage, several senior leaders — including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, and Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra — sat down on the road in protest.

While the sit-in continued outside, a 10-member delegation was permitted to proceed to Rashtrapati Bhavan to meet President Droupadi Murmu. The group included Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

The opposition's demands

The delegation presented a memorandum to President Murmu detailing four primary demands:

• The immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
• The suspension of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
• The restoration of millions of voters allegedly deleted from the electoral rolls.
• The cancellation of all state assembly elections held over the last two years, alongside a return to paper ballots.

The opposition parties have raised conflicting figures on the scale of the voter deletions. While Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera stated outside that 13.8 crore names had been removed, the formal memorandum submitted to the President called for the restoration of 13.3 crore voters.

The memorandum described the presidency as the "final guardian" of the nation's democratic covenant at a time when "every other door has been closed".

What happens next

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Rahul Gandhi said he was surprised by the President's reception of their grievances. "I expected the President to deny that 'vote chori' [vote theft] is taking place," Gandhi said. "I was shocked, stunned that she accepted what we said."

The agitation is set to move to the judiciary. Gandhi announced that opposition leaders will march to the Supreme Court on Monday to hand a similar memorandum to the Chief Justice of India.

The political pressure on the election chief has intensified following a report by The Indian Express revealing that two other election commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, had internally recorded objections 14 times over the past 10 months regarding the electoral roll revision.

The Election Commission has defended its conduct, stating that differing views are a normal part of its internal deliberations and that its orders follow established statutory rules.

However, some opposition leaders are pushing for stronger measures. Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee said simply replacing the election chief would not suffice. "Removing Gyanesh Kumar is not going to solve the problem unless criminal proceedings are initiated against him, he is arrested, and put behind bars," Banerjee said.