Leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) came together on Sunday for the largest Opposition mobilisation in recent years, renewing calls for the removal of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, and saying he will be jailed for treason in the future.
After headlining a march that snaked through central Delhi for more than an hour and a rally attended by thousands of people, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also trained his guns at the government, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah will not be allowed to escape the law. “The first step to bring the country back on track is to remove Gyanesh Kumar. I am telling you, Narendra Modi can’t go anywhere. We will not allow him to go. After Gyanesh Kumar, we will face you. There will be legal proceedings against Modi and Amit Shah. They looted the money of Ram Janmabhoomi, Waqf properties…The police became their comrades. The BJP has no organisation of its own. That is why they make the police do party work. Agencies don’t work with the BJP. The BJP will go. The ongoing protests are part of a longer string of events that have mounted pressure on Kumar. It also alleged that election officials found their access to the ECI software curtailed by the central IT team.
The developments follow an Indian Express investigation that said election commissioners SS Sandhu and Vivek Joshi recorded written dissents and objections at least 14 times between November 2025 and August 2026 and even wrote to the cabinet secretary.
Amit Shah had said that Modi will not go anywhere. The country will get justice,” Gandhi told the audience at Ramlila Maidan , one of the three new designated protest sites in the Capital. “The Congress’s objective is to reopen the wounds of the Sikh community, create anarchy in Delhi, destabilise a democratically elected government and malign the country,” Nadda said Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said, “What haven’t they looted? ECI said differing views and observations were a normal part of deliberation and that all its digital platforms operated under strict data security protocols.
Several leaders demanded a trial for treason against Kumar, vowed to continue the fight and even set the stage for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh and Punjab elections. The Opposition programme included a march from the edge of Connaught Place to Ramlila Maidan, a route of 1.3km touching Minto Road and Kamla Market. It began at around 12.45 pm as leaders from more than 19 parties — Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah – boarded open-top buses commissioned from Rajasthan. For about 1.5 hours, the convoy of vehicles, flanked by thousands of supporters and political workers, drove around central Delhi before reaching Ramlila Maidan at 2.30pm. Union minister JP Nadda slammed the Congress for holding its rally on a day that marked the anniversary of the anti-Sikh riots following the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge demanded Kumar be sent to jail “so that no one else dares to do such a thing again.
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav termed the rally “Mahabharata” and Akhilesh Yadav said Ramlila maidan had become democracy’s battle of Haldighati, where Maharana Pratap and the Mughal forces clashed in the 16th century.
