INDIA Bloc Builds November 1 Delhi Rally, Sets Public Impeachment of Poll Chief

India's opposition bloc stepped up preparations on Sunday for a November 1 mega rally in Delhi against the Election Commission, with Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal holding a planning meeting in Jaipur and party president Mallikarjun Kharge telling Congress MPs to stay in the capital for three straight days.

Venugopal met senior Rajasthan Congress leaders, MLAs and MPs at the Constitution Club in Jaipur, ANI reported. Former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra, assembly opposition leader Tikaram Jully, Sachin Pilot, NSUI president Vinod Jakhar, state in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and co-in-charge Poonam Paswan attended.

The November 1 event at Ramlila Maidan is billed as the "Save the Vote, Save the Country" march and rally. Congress says it is aiming for a turnout of one million people, the Daily Jagran reported.

A public impeachment first

Two days before the rally, on October 30, the INDIA bloc plans a symbolic "Public Impeachment" proceeding against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The programme ends with a public verdict calling for his removal.

The agitation rests on the bloc's allegations of "vote chori", or vote theft, and on alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The bloc is demanding Kumar's resignation. Kharge's message to MPs cited the same allegations and asked them to be present in Delhi on October 30, 31 and November 1.

The BJP answer

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has condemned the plan. National spokesperson Sambit Patra accused the INDIA bloc and Rahul Gandhi of spreading confusion, lies and deceit because they cannot accept electoral results, and of trying to manufacture anarchy by attacking constitutional bodies one after another: the judiciary, the armed forces and now the Election Commission. Patra said the poll panel works independently within constitutional limits and called the protests political stunts staged to keep the Congress leadership relevant.

What happens next

The test comes in two parts. The October 30 proceeding is theatre by design, and both sides know it: the opposition wants a verdict delivered in public, and the BJP wants the event framed as an attack on institutions. The November 1 turnout is the harder number. A full Ramlila Maidan gives the bloc a picture it can carry into the next round of the roll revision fight. A thin crowd hands the BJP its answer.