Tens of thousands of people have gathered in India’s capital Delhi for a major opposition rally demanding the resignation of the country’s chief election commissioner over a controversial revision of voter lists.
The rally, organised by the opposition INDIA bloc and led by Rahul Gandhi’s Congress party, has brought together some of India’s most prominent politicians at Ramlila Maidan, a sprawling ground in central Delhi.
They arrived at the venue on Sunday after travelling in jeeps through crowds of cheering supporters.
Among those attending were Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, as well as Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav.
The rally comes after weeks of opposition protests over a voter-list revision exercise that has removed 130 million names from draft electoral rolls.
Opposition parties accuse chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of using the exercise to manipulate elections. Both the BJP and the Election Commission deny the allegations.
Protesters chanted “Save the vote, save the country” and “Vote thief, give up power”, while others sang and danced to patriotic Bollywood songs. Thousands of police and paramilitary personnel were deployed around the venue, with barricades and traffic restrictions in place.
The Gen Z-led pressure group Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has also pledged support, though its leaders have yet to be seen at the event.
Among those protesting on Sunday was Isha, a development sector professional from Delhi, who said she feared Indian democracy was under threat.
“We don’t even know if this is a people’s mandate or a stolen mandate,” she told the BBC.
