New Delhi, November 1, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Opposition leaders at the INDIA bloc’s rally at Ramlila Maidan on Sunday targeted the Centre over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav invoking the Mahabharata to describe the political confrontation, while Left representatives accused the government of suppressing democratic protests.
Addressing the gathering, RJD Working President Tejashwi Yadav compared the Opposition’s campaign against alleged “vote chori” to the battle of Kurukshetra. He said the Mahabharata began with a game of dice rather than on the battlefield and used the character of Shakuni to allege that the electoral process was being manipulated.
“Whenever Shakuni rolled his dice, it would land exactly as Shakuni dictated,” Yadav said, questioning who was playing the role of Shakuni in the alleged vote theft.
He also demanded that a treason case be registered against Gyanesh Kumar, accusing the Chief Election Commissioner of acting at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and undermining citizens’ voting rights.
“This Gyanesh Kumar is a puppet of Narendra Modi,” he alleged, calling for the CEC to be sent to jail to deter future attempts to undermine democratic institutions.
Left leaders, meanwhile, criticised what they described as a shrinking of civil liberties and democratic space under the BJP-led government.
All India Students’ Association (AISA) President Neha Bora accused the government of using police force against protesters and questioned its approach to demonstrations against the SIR exercise.
She alleged that people protesting with the national flag had been beaten and jailed, comparing the government’s actions to tactics used by the British during the freedom movement.
Bora also questioned why citizens were being asked to prove their citizenship and accused the government of discriminating against sections of the population.
Welcoming the turnout at the rally, she said public protests reflected the country’s democratic traditions and asserted that no government could suppress dissent indefinitely.
The rally brought together Opposition parties to demand action against the CEC and protest what they described as irregularities and discriminatory aspects of the electoral roll revision exercise.
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