{"id":2754,"date":"2026-10-18T08:31:55","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T08:31:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/10\/18\/congress-rally-ramlila-maidan-anti-cec-protests\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T08:31:55","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T08:31:55","slug":"congress-rally-ramlila-maidan-anti-cec-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/10\/18\/congress-rally-ramlila-maidan-anti-cec-protests\/","title":{"rendered":"Congress Granted Permit for Ramlila Maidan Rally Amid Growing Anti-CEC Protests"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"9fece8afa224fd09e54b043d0febfb58\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- NR ATF -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8898941184964366\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"4839033563\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>On Saturday, October 17, a senior officer of the Delhi Police confirmed that the Indian National Congress has received a no\u2011objection certificate to hold a public rally at Ramlila Maidan on November 1. The permission, issued as a formal NOC, comes amid a wave of demonstrations across the capital and abroad that target the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.<\/p>\n<h2>Police Approval for Congress Rally<\/h2>\n<p>The police statement, released on October 17, indicated that the department has cleared the Congress\u2011led gathering after reviewing the request. The rally is expected to draw large crowds, given the heightened public interest in the electoral\u2011roll revision process and the broader criticism of the Election Commission\u2019s recent actions. The approval does not signal any endorsement of the rally\u2019s agenda; it merely fulfills the procedural requirement for large\u2011scale assemblies in the city.<\/p>\n<h2>Opposition\u2019s Campaign Against SIR and the CEC<\/h2>\n<p>Parallel to the administrative clearance, opposition forces have intensified their campaign against what they describe as a \u201cvote theft\u201d operation. The Congress party has appointed 208 senior members as observers to monitor the nationwide \u201cVote Bachao, Desh Bachao\u201d (Save Your Vote, Save the Country) drive, a coordinated effort to challenge the SIR and to safeguard voter rights.<\/p>\n<p>Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh publicly condemned the Election Commission\u2019s October 15 order to release \u201creadable\u201d electoral rolls to political parties. Ramesh argued that the commission had resisted such a move since 2018, only relenting because \u201cthe whole nation is on the streets against the Vote Chors.\u201d He called for the immediate suspension of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, whom he accused of acting on instructions from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, and demanded that the SIR, which he said jeopardised the voting rights of 13\u202fcrore Indians, be halted.<\/p>\n<p>In a related development, the Election Commission announced an annual Special Summary Revision (SSR) covering 17 states and union territories, including those with upcoming polls. The final revised rolls are slated for completion by January 4, 2026, and, for the first time, political parties will receive \u201creadable\u201d versions of the rolls at both draft and final stages.<\/p>\n<p>Local grievances have also surfaced. Pedada\u202fParameswara\u202fRao, former president of the Srikakulam District Congress Committee, reported on October 17 that thousands of migrant labourers from Srikakulam district lost their names from the electoral roll during the SIR, despite their families and Aadhaar addresses remaining registered in the district. Rao highlighted that more than five lakh people from the district have temporarily migrated for work, and he urged the Election Commission to restore the affected voters\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n<p>Data released by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Delhi provides a partial view of the SIR\u2019s progress. Of the 33.12\u202flakh cases flagged as \u201cno\u2011mapping\u201d or \u201clogical discrepancy,\u201d approximately 26\u202flakh have been resolved, representing a 78.5\u202fpercent clearance rate. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) have been conducting field visits to collect supporting documents from electors with disputed entries, underscoring the commission\u2019s stated objective of leaving no eligible voter excluded.<\/p>\n<h2>Legal Challenges and Supreme Court Involvement<\/h2>\n<p>The judicial arena has also become a focal point of the controversy. The Supreme Court has issued notices to the Centre following a petition filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), which challenges the lifelong immunity granted to the CEC and Election Commissioners for actions performed in the discharge of official duties. The court\u2019s intervention signals a willingness to scrutinise the legal protections afforded to senior election officials.<\/p>\n<p>In a separate matter, a Supreme Court\u2011appointed panel tasked with investigating the July\u202f20 protests against a NEET paper leak has been instructed to prioritise inquiries into the use of pellet guns, targeted violence, and harassment of female protesters. The panel\u2019s mandate also includes examining excessive violence and property destruction on either side of the clashes.<\/p>\n<p>Academic and columnist Apporvanad\u202fJha has secured the court\u2019s agreement to hear a written submission arguing that equating peaceful protest with a breach of peace constitutes a \u201cploy\u201d by the central government and Delhi Police to facilitate preventive detentions. Jha\u2019s petition, filed under a criminal writ challenging prohibitory orders issued under Section\u202f163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), adds another layer to the legal contest surrounding the right to demonstrate.<\/p>\n<p>The Indian Youth Congress (IYC) has taken to social media to allege police brutality against student demonstrators, describing \u201cruthless beatings, threats to kill, humiliation, and mistreatment of female students.\u201d The IYC warned of \u201cstrict legal action\u201d against officials it accuses of \u201cthuggery in uniform,\u201d urging Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Shah to recognise that the nation\u2019s youth does not fear them.<\/p>\n<p>Internationally, the opposition\u2019s message has found resonance among the Indian diaspora. On October 17, hundreds of participants gathered at Mahatma Gandhi\u2019s statue in Parliament Square, London, to protest against CEC Gyanesh Kumar and the SIR. The demonstration, organised by the Opposition Congress and UK\u2011based Indian student groups, was mirrored by a counter\u2011rally supporting Prime Minister Modi, with police keeping the two factions separated.<\/p>\n<p>Within the capital, the anti\u2011CEC movement has continued despite police action. Abhijeet\u202fDipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), was released from preventive detention after signing a peace bond on October 17. Sporadic protests, largely led by women activists, persisted into the eighth day of the agitation.<\/p>\n<p>Opposition leaders have also accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of seeking to \u201ccapture institutions\u201d in order to remain in power indefinitely. They rebuffed the government\u2019s narrative that the street protests aimed at a \u201cBangladesh\u2011like regime change,\u201d asserting instead that the demonstrations reflect genuine concerns over electoral integrity.<\/p>\n<p>As the scheduled Congress rally at Ramlila Maidan approaches, the confluence of political, legal, and grassroots pressures underscores a volatile pre\u2011election environment. The rally will likely serve as both a platform for the Congress to articulate its stance on the SIR and a flashpoint for further confrontation between protestors, law\u2011enforcement agencies, and the Election Commission.<\/p>\n<p>Stakeholders across the spectrum are watching closely. The Supreme Court\u2019s forthcoming decisions on the ADR petition and on the breach\u2011of\u2011peace challenge could reshape the legal framework governing election officials. Meanwhile, the Election Commission\u2019s rollout of \u201creadable\u201d rolls and its efforts to resolve mapping discrepancies will be evaluated for effectiveness and fairness. The outcome of the November 1 rally may provide a barometer of public sentiment ahead of the finalisation of the electoral rolls in early 2026.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Delhi Police approved a Congress rally at Ramlila Maidan on Nov.\u202f1 as opposition groups intensify protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[299],"tags":[456,1840,1449,3045,335],"class_list":["post-2754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-congress","tag-election-commission","tag-protests","tag-ramlila-maidan","tag-supreme-court","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}