INDIA bloc leaders have alleged that millions of voters have been excluded during the Special Intensive Revision, while the Election Commission maintains that the revision is a statutory exercise and disputes the Opposition’s “vote theft” narrative.
BY PC Bureau
New Delhi, October 5: The INDIA bloc will step up its campaign against the Election Commission on Tuesday, with Opposition MPs set to march from Parliament House to the poll panel’s office over what they allege are large-scale irregularities in electoral rolls and the “vote theft” of millions of voters.
The march, scheduled for 11 am on October 6, is part of a multi-stage agitation announced by the Opposition after its September 30 meeting, where leaders of around 19 parties drew up a programme targeting Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The plan also includes protests at district and block levels, meetings with the President and larger rallies in the coming weeks.
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said on Monday that MPs would assemble at Makar Dwar at 10.30 am before beginning the march to the Election Commission.
“Tomorrow at 11 AM, MPs of all opposition parties will march peacefully from Parliament House to the Election Commission,” Ramesh said, adding that the protest would be conducted peacefully.
However, the Opposition front is not entirely united over Tuesday’s action. The Aam Aadmi Party said Monday that it would not participate in the INDIA bloc march, with Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh saying the party was pursuing the issue separately and regarded the protests as a broader people’s movement.
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Campaign to intensify beyond Delhi
Ramesh said Congress would continue its campaign through October 8 with pad-yatras, demonstrations and meetings at the district level. From October 10 to 20, similar meetings are planned at the block level.
A larger phase is scheduled from October 25 to November 25, when the Opposition plans “Save votes, save the country” rallies at state and district levels and village chaupals. Ramesh said the campaign would seek to gather information on around 13.5 crore voters whom the Opposition claims have been left out of the electoral rolls.
The INDIA bloc had announced the broader action plan at its September 30 meeting. Besides the October 6 march, leaders decided to seek an appointment with President Droupadi Murmu in the second week of October and organise district-level “Save Democracy” protests. The Opposition has also called for a large Delhi rally on November 1 and demanded a return to ballot-paper voting.
⦿ 6 अक्टूबर: सुबह 11 बजे से सभी विपक्षी पार्टियों के सांसद पार्लियामेंट हाउस से निर्वाचन सदन तक मार्च निकालेंगे
⦿ 8 अक्टूबर: INDIA गठबंधन की सभी पार्टियां जिला स्तर पर वोट चोरी और CEC को हटाने की मांग को लेकर प्रदर्शन करेंगी
⦿ 10 से 20 अक्टूबर: ब्लॉक स्तर पर कांग्रेस पार्टी वोट चोरी और CEC को हटाने की मांग को लेकर बाइक रैली, साइकिल रैली और पदयात्रा करेगी
⦿ 25 अक्टूबर से 25 नवंबर: कांग्रेस पार्टी राज्य, जिले और गांव स्तर पर ‘वोट बचाओ-देश बचाओ’ रैलियां करेगी
👉 इस दौरान हम घर-घर जाएंगे और हर बूथ पर चुनाव आयोग द्वारा हटाए गए करीब साढ़े 13 करोड़ नामों को फिर से जुड़वाने की कोशिश करेंगे
⦿ 1 नवंबर: रामलीला मैदान में INDIA गठबंधन की एक महारैली होगी, इसमें शामिल होने के लिए हम सभी विपक्षी पार्टियों को निमंत्रण दे रहे हैं
⦿ 25-26 नवंबर: 6 अलग-अलग राज्यों से ‘दिल्ली चलो’ यात्रा होगी और ‘वोट बचाओ, देश बचाओ’ के नारे के साथ हम दिल्ली में महाप्रदर्शन करेंगे
: कांग्रेस महासचिव (संचार) श्री @Jairam_Ramesh
📍 दिल्ली
— Congress (@INCIndia) October 5, 2026
Kharge, Rahul sharpen attack on EC
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has framed the dispute around the principle of one person, one vote. At the September 30 INDIA bloc meeting, he claimed that 13.3 crore voters had been removed from the rolls and demanded that the pre-SIR electoral rolls be used for future elections. He also called for Kumar’s removal, citing reported written objections raised by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
Rahul Gandhi has gone further, repeatedly describing the alleged manipulation of electoral rolls as “vote chori”. On September 23, he accused the BJP, RSS and Election Commission of organising what he called “vote chori” and said it amounted to an attack on the Constitution.
He subsequently questioned the alleged modification of online Form 6, asking who within the Election Commission ordered Tata Consultancy Services to make the change and who at TCS approved it.
That issue has since acquired a fresh legal dimension. The Supreme Court said Monday that any modified Form 6 had not been approved by the court and sought records to establish who made the changes and whether the Election Commission had taken the decision through the proper institutional process.
‘13.3 crore deletions’ remains disputed
The Opposition’s campaign centres on the scale of changes during the SIR exercise and allegations that eligible voters may have been excluded from the rolls.
The Election Commission, however, has rejected the Opposition’s characterisation of the 13-crore figure as mass deletion of eligible voters. It has said the figure at the draft stage includes electors classified as absent, shifted, dead or duplicate
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