CEC-SIR row highlights on October 8: Opposition leaders say will continue protest against CEC, vote chori

At least 70 companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), comprising around 7,000 personnel, who are currently deployed in West Bengal and Chhattisgarh, are being mobilised for law-and-order duties in Delhi, ahead of the protest called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on October 10, according to two official communications issued on October 5 and 6.

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Just ahead of the collective protest called by Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and left groups on October 10, 2026, seeking the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Mumbai-based activist on Thursday (October 8, 2026) alleged that Mumbai Police detained and released them on the condition to stay in Mumbai.

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Ahead of the October 10 protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, several videos containing threats of violence against demonstrators have circulated on social media, prompting the organisers to urge the Delhi Police to prevent those issuing threats from reaching the protest site.

In the videos making the rounds on X, men can be heard calling on people to gather at Jantar Mantar with batons and threatening to confront those participating in the demonstration.

In one video, a man using the handle ‘Hindu Arun Yadav’ is seen holding a baton and calling for a gathering of physically fit men from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. “If 50 men of six feet each stand with me, I will not leave any of these cockroaches. Police are not needed. I’ll see you all,” he says.

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The Madhya Pradesh Congress staged statewide protests against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, with party leaders calling him a “traitor” and demanding his resignation over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

In Bhopal, Congress leaders and workers marched from the Board Office Square to the Ambedkar statue, while protests, sloganeering and effigy burnings were held in Indore, Jabalpur, Gwalior and several other cities.

Talking to reporters here, state Congress president Jitu Patwari dubbed Gyanesh Kumar as a “traitor”, and said the protests would continue till he resigned.

He also announced that one lakh party workers from Madhya Pradesh would march to Delhi.

– PTI

Civil society groups, academics and farmer organisations extended support to a nationwide protest call for October 10, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, rollback of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and repeal of the law governing the appointment of election commissioners.

Addressing a press conference in Delhi, senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan, Bharat Jodo Abhiyan national convenor Yogendra Yadav and other speakers alleged that large-scale deletion of names from electoral rolls was undermining democratic and constitutional rights.

The speakers appealed to students, youth, farmers and civil society members to join the October 10 mobilisation in the national capital.

– PTI

Delhi Police has tightened security in and around the official residence of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Election Commission office amid protests by opposition parties and the Cockroach Janta Party, officials said.

Mr. Kumar is having a Z-Plus category protection which entails a minimum of 32 personnel, mainly drawn from Delhi Police. The security cover for the CEC’s post was enhanced to the top category during the tenure of former CEC Rajiv Kumar by the Central Government.

The development comes as INDIA bloc leaders stepped up their protests against the ECI, with Opposition parties demanding Mr. Kumar’s resignation over allegations of “vote chori” under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

– PTI

Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal accused the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of “vote theft” with the help of the Election Commission of India (ECI).

He demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the registration of a sedition case.

The Congress held ‘Black Day for Democracy’ protests across Maharashtra, with demonstrations reported from Nanded, Buldhana, Nashik, Amravati, Nagpur, Chiplun and other areas.

Addressing reporters during a protest in Buldhana, Mr. Sapkal alleged the BJP-led government had come to power through “vote theft” and claimed the irregularities had now been exposed.

– PTI

The Delhi government on Thursday (October 8, 2026) directed the closure of liquor stores in the city on October 9 and 10 due to the “prevailing” situation to maintain public order.

An order issued by the Excise Department said that the closure of liquor vends was based on Delhi Police inputs as a preventive measure aimed at maintaining “public order”.

The order has come ahead of ongoing protests by opposition parties demanding resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged “vote theft”. A call for protest at Jantar Mantar on October 10 has also been given by the Cockroach Janta Party.

– PTI

After paying tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat, Congress leader Imran Masood says, “This protest will continue till we get Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.”

– PTI

INDIA bloc leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, paid tribute at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial at Rajghat and held a sit-in on October 8.

The Opposition leaders are protesting against alleged irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission of India and demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

– PTI

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge leads peaceful protests at Raj Ghat, demanding vote integrity, resignations for mistakes, and government accountability.

“Look, this is the third day of protest, we have done peaceful protest, we raised the issues of people, we came here and offered prayers for good sense to the government, the vote theft should stop, those who did mistakes should resign, and people’s right to vote should be intact,” he said.

Congress-led protests at Raj Ghat demand Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, urging accountability and unity from the nation.

“The entire country is united today. The country demands Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. PM should bow before the nation and remember that he himself had called himself ‘Pradhansevak’,” said Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi.

“As the Prime Minister, he should listen to the voice of the country and leave trying to win the election through deceit with the help of the Election Commission,” he added.

The buses carrying INDIA bloc MPs have reached Raj Ghat. The MPs are going to hold a sit-in protest against CEC Gyanesh Kumar.

– PTI

An FIR has been registered against five named and about 150 unidentified Samajwadi Party workers and office-bearers for allegedly violating prohibitory orders while protesting against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in Pratapgarh, officials said on Thursday.

According to police, the SP workers took out a procession on Wednesday and staged a protest at Ambedkar Chowk, without the superintendent of police’s permission.

Despite being stopped by police, the protesters continued their demonstration, raised slogans and allegedly burnt an effigy of the Election Commission chief.

-PTI

Over 40 former Supreme Court and High Court judges have raised concerns over a “calculated campaign driven by vested political interests, with little regard for the potentially devastating consequences of destabilising the world’s largest democracy”.

“A party that governed this nation for over five decades now claims that the very system which elected it is rigged. It does not act alone. Activist outfits with a long record of selective litigation lend these claims a veneer of legality,” said 42 former judges in an open letter, without naming the party.

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Tripura’s Congress unit on Thursday staged a protest rally here, demanding the immediate arrest of CEC Gyanesh Kumar.

Thousands of Congress leaders and workers, led by Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Asish Kumar Saha and senior MLA Sudip Roy Barman, gathered in front of the Agartala Press Club and marched to the office of the District Magistrate, West Tripura, where they staged a protest demanding Kumar’s arrest.

-PTI

The INDIA bloc has requested an appointment from President Droupadi Murmu and is awaiting a response from the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said on Thursday.

He said the first request letter was sent on October 2. Subsequently, the Rashtrapati Bhavan Office asked for the names of leaders who would be attending the meeting.

“Accordingly, we submitted the request again on October 5, along with the names, seeking an appointment on October 7, 8 or 9,” Mr. Venugopal said.

“So far, we have received no response. We will wait until Friday,” he said.

-PTI

“I want to emphasise that this is not to support any party; it is for the rights of every citizen. The protesters who are here are the biggest nationalists,” he added.

-Rishita Khanna

“I would like to tell this to BJP voters too: voting is a right. The supporters are not convinced by the “vote chori” claims. I have three claims and questions:

1. How were 70 lakh people removed before the West Bengal elections, and then added back soon after them? Why were these people added back?
2. What happened in Bihar? Over 40 lakh names were deleted, but Gyanesh Kumar did not say a word until the SC directed that these names be made public.
3. In UP, over 14 lakh people were “added” suddenly. Who are these people? Meanwhile, in Goa, even though the EROs wanted to add names, the ECI did not allow it.”

-Rishita Khanna

“This is my first protest. When I landed yesterday, I saw that social media posts were going viral saying Dhruv Rathee is coming to change the regime. Narendra Modi must be thinking I have a problem with him, but the entire nation has a problem with him,” Dhruv Rathee said at the “people’s tribunal” on the SIR of electoral rolls in Bengaluru’s Freedom Park.

-Rishita Khanna

CJP founder Abhijit Dipke on Thursday (October 8, 2026) accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “murdering democracy and vote theft,” and said protests will go on till CEC Gyanesh Kumar resigns from his post.

Presiding over a protest held by civil society group and CJP here against SIR, he alleged that voter deletions under the Special Intensive Revision were aimed at disenfranchising those opposed to the BJP and accused PM Modi and the Election Commission of murdering democracy and causing vote theft.

“We will hit the streets, reclaim democracy and continue agitation till the CEC resigns,” he added.

– PTI

BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi on Thursday (October 8, 2026) asserted that if elections are fair and the bureaucracy transparent, then the govt elected by people should not perish.

He also said that if the Constitution is violated then the Supreme Court must look into it.

Mr. Joshi was speaking to reporters on sidelines of the 21st FICCI Higher Education Summit here.

Responding to a question about the opposition demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over allegations of irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls, Joshi said, “…government of the people, for the people and by the people, shall not perish from the earth, provided the elections are fair, the governments are accountable, and the bureaucracy is transparent.”

– PTI

Telangana Congress leaders, ministers and members from INDIA bloc parties on Thursday (October 8, 2026) held a rally here demanding the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the SIR of electoral rolls.

The rally, organised as part of the INDIA bloc’s ‘Save Democracy’ campaign, was held from the Indira Gandhi statue in Necklace Road here to the Lok Bhavan.

Telangana ministers, including Ponnam Prabhakar, D Sridhar Babu and Jupally Krishna Rao, and state Congress president B Mahesh Kumar Goud participated.

The leaders and workers of CPI, CPI(M), MCPI(U), Telangana Jana Samiti and other parties also took part in the rally.

– PTI

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge reaches MOETS restaurant, where INDI Alliance MP’s are having lunch in New Delhi on October 08, 2026. Photo: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap

NSUI members and supporters stage a protest outside MOETS restaurant, where India Alliance MP’s will have lunch today in New Delhi on October 08, 2026. Photo: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap

The BJP on Thursday (October 8, 2026) alleged that the Congress is trying to create “Nepal- and Bangladesh-like anarchy” in the country through its street protests, as Rahul Gandhi is “desperate” to come to power.

Showing some video footage of INDIA bloc’ Wednesday protest, BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said the way Rahul, his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Congress workers manhandled the police personnel in Delhi makes the party’s intention clear.

“The Congress party’s strategy is to spread anarchy in India, like Nepal and Bangladesh,” he said in a video message.

– PTI

“As former Supreme Court judge, I am here to extend solidarity. I don’t agree with the SC judgement on SIR. It’s unconstitutional. The democracy is being butchered and people will teach a lesson to those at the helm,” said retired justice Gopala Gowda.

“Nobody on this earth can stop this agitation. The irresponsible statement of current CJI to call youth “cockroach” is what led to this mass agitation and unity. It’s a tragedy,” the former judge said.

YouTuber Dhruv Rathee releases a report on the Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls, which focuses on irregularities across 100 polling stations in Karnataka.

Photo: N. Ravichandran

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke begins his speech in Hindi so, he says, “the PM can clearly understand”. 

“Narendra Modi did ‘vote chori’ and won. People who are alive are declared dead. This is death of democracy by Narendra Modi. Through SIR, Modi wants ownership of people. This is RSS ideology, Godse’s ideology,” Dipke said. 

“Nehru is the backbone of India, and gave voting rights to people who didn’t know about it. Meanwhile this “Vishwaguru” is doing vote chori. ‘One nation, one election’ is only a slogan. However, the intention is ‘one nation, one party’. This is similar to what Hilter intended. The difference between BJP and Congress in 2024 is just 2%, that’s why this ‘vote chori’. Because BJP was shocked with the results after claiming “400 paar”, Dipke added. 

“Across India, 13 crore names have been deleted from the draft stage, and the BJP via ECI has increased the winning gap. Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Stalin and Pinarayi Vijayan – all those who were against Modi, lost this time. 

“They call us (youth) cockroaches because they want us to live like a cockroach; but we need to be resilient like a cockroach. The street belongs to the youth and we will reclaim the nation, the democracy. We will not let Modi impose his dictatorship,” Dipke said.

– Rishita Khanna reports; Photo: N. Ravichandran

Kannada writer Devanuru Mahadeva joins the people from Bhalki, Babaleshwar and other taluks, whose names were deleted from the draft roll, during the protest at Freedom Park in Bengaluru. The electors were marked as Shifted and Absent though they have been residing at the same place. 

These were also the taluks where Form-7 were filled by BJP workers for removal of voters with Muslim names from the electoral roll. 

– Rishita Khanna reports; Photo: N. Ravichandran

Speaking at the ‘People’s Tribunal’ against the SIR exercise in Bengaluru’s Freedom Park, actor Prakash Raj said, “People from different groups have joined us here, from CJP to AISA, for the same cause. This is not just “vote chori”, but via SIR, the ECI has insulted the entire country. So far, election officials would go house to house to enroll new voters. Now, the voter is running from pillar to post, pleading with election officials over why their name shouldn’t be removed.”

“In this country, people used to decide who forms the government but with SIR, the government is deciding who will vote. This is not a clean up exercise, deletions are not just numbers. There is a pattern – it is all minority, Adivasi, and Muslim voters,” the actor said.

“The aim of this protest is not to remove CEC Gyanesh Kumar alone. If he goes, another will replace him. The aim is to scrap SIR. This protest is to restore the right of the citizens. Scrap SIR, and file a case against Gyanesh Kumar. Uuntil then, the agitation will not stop.” Mr. Raj said.

“Gyanesh Kumar and Modi-Shah should meet the victims, the people who were deleted [from the voter rolls] during the SIR,” he said, while lauding the CJP and others who joined the protest as “superstars” who had showed up for the citizens and their rights.

– Aditya Bharadwaj reports; Photo: N. Ravichandran

The security cover of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has been further strengthened amid protests by Opposition parties over alleged irregularities in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Additional personnel have been deployed outside his Delhi residence in New Moti Bagh Colony, at the Election Commission office and for his personal security, officials in the know said on Thursday (October 8, 2026).

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INDIA bloc leaders, led by RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, took out a march here on Thursday(October 8, 2026) against CEC Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise.

They started the protest march from Shaheed Smarak in front of the state assembly and headed towards the Lok Bhavan but were stopped by police near the office of the chief electoral officer, police said.

“As they attempted to breach security barricades, the police bundled them into a vehicle and took them to the Lok Bhavan,” a senior officer said.

Former CPI (ML) Liberation MLA Ajit Kushwaha fainted during the demonstration.

– PTI

Indian Youth Congress moves Delhi High Court over Delhi Police’s refusal to allow its Jantar Mantar protest against CEC Gyanesh Kumar. The court to take up the plea on Friday (October 9, 2026).

– Rocky Soibam

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Union minister Bhagirath Choudhary on Thursday (October 8, 2026) criticised the Congress-led opposition for holding demonstrations in Delhi against CEC Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise, claiming that the protests were “out of frustration”.

Mr. Choudhary arrived in Ranchi this morning to inaugurate multiple facilities at ICAR-Indian Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology (IIAB).

“The Opposition is left with no issue at all. They are frustrated and disheartened. This is why they resort to protest and are making baseless statements. Their demonstrations are out of frustration,” Mr. Choudhary told reporters at Ranchi’s Birsa Munda Airport.

– PTI

Vijayapura police have registered an FIR against Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, MLA, on the charge of creating false death certificates of voters in a bid to exclude them from the voting list in the Vijayapura Assembly constituency in Karnataka. Mr. Yatnal was expelled by the BJP in March 2025.

Activist Prakash Raj had raised this issue at a rally in Vijayapura a few days ago.

Read more here

The Delhi Police has asked a social media platform to remove or restrict access to 11 posts and videos allegedly presenting a misleading account of police action during a recent protest in the national capital, saying the content could provoke public reaction and adversely affect law and order.

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Normal life was affected in several districts of Odisha on Thursday as supporters of INDIA bloc parties held demonstrations and blocked roads as part of a 12-hour bandh to protest against a new mining law, errors in school textbooks and the alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise.

Business establishments, petrol pumps, shops and many educational institutes were seen closed in the morning, while public transport such as buses and autorickshaws remained off the road.

The protesters, holding party flags and banners, staged demonstrations in various places and blocked roads and national highways in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Bargarh, Bhadrak, Balasore, Rayagada, Kendrapara, Bolangir, Berhampur, and Sambalpur.

– PTI

At least two fresh FIRs have been registered against Congress leaders, including Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, in connection with the INDIA bloc’s protest in central Delhi on Wednesday (October 7, 2026) against the revision of electoral rolls and demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Delhi Police sources said.

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The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s politics of resistance has found expression on the streets of central Delhi, as Opposition parties belonging to the see Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) have been carrying out back-to-back protests demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of vote chori (theft) and electoral manipulation.

Objecting to the manner in which the Delhi Police manhandled Opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the Congress on Wednesday (October 7, 2026) called its State units to observe a black day and protests in the States on Thursday (October 8, 2026).

Hundreds of AAP workers protested outside the office of the Delhi chief electoral officer (CEO) at Kashmere Gate on Wednesday, demanding resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Delhi AAP chief Saurabh Bharadwaj said the party would ask the poll official about the deletion of lakhs of Delhi voters’ names from the electoral roll, demanding the deleted names be restored.

“We don’t have any personal rivalry with the government. We are fighting for the Constitution and democratic rights. We want to cooperate with police,” Bharadwaj said, while speaking during the protest outside the Delhi CEO’s office.

– PTI

Police have booked five Samajwadi Party workers and some unidentified people for allegedly protesting against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, raising slogans, burning his effigy and blocking a road here, officials said on Wednesday (October 7, 2026).

Police alleged that the protesters raised slogans and made objectionable remarks against Kumar without permission from the competent authority. They also gathered on the main road, causing a traffic jam and inconvenience to commuters, schoolchildren, women, traders and motorists.

On October 6, information was received that SP workers were marching from under the Bholepur overbridge towards Ambedkar Tiraha, raising slogans against the CEC, police said.

– PTI