India news: Gandhi vows to step up pressure on Modi at protest rally

With pollution levels soaring as winter is arriving across northern India, authorities collected fines amounting to nearly €64,500 on the first day of the anti-pollution drive on Sunday.

Nearly 15,000 vehicles were checked by authorities, while more than 1,500 vehicles were sent back to Delhi's borders and more than 500 tickets were issued for failing to comply with the Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUCC) norms.

The Delhi government has imposed several restrictions as the time when pollution levels peak in Delhi approaches.

The authorities in Delhi have imposed a ban on non-Delhi vehicles that do not meet emission standards from November 1, 2026, to January 31, 2027.

Vehicles running on compressed natural gas (CNG), electric vehicles (EVs) and those involved in essential services were exempted from the restrictions, according to a report by Indian news channel NDTV.

According to the report, 300 construction sites were inspected, of which 32 were reported to be violating dust control norms.

Leader of the opposition Indian National Congress (INC) party, Rahul Gandhi, dialed up the pressure against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah as thousands joined the INDIA bloc rally held at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, demanding India's election chief Gyanesh Kumar's resignation.

Addressing the crowd, Gandhi said, "Narendra Modi ji and Amit Shah ji, understand this: after Gyanesh Kumar, we will stand against you and don’t forget that for the vote chori (vote theft) you have done, there will be legal action against you and Narendra Modi."

Gandhi said the resignation of Kumar as the Chief Election Commission would be "the first step to getting the country on the right track."

He alleged that "without Gyanesh Kumar, Narendra Modi wouldn’t have become PM and Amit Shah wouldn’t be home minister."

The rally follows a series of protests in more than a month against Kumar and the controversial mass voter roll revision, which removed more than 130 million names from voter lists.

Opposition parties have alleged the exercise disproportionately affected Muslims and other minorities.

The rally was attended by several opposition leaders including senior INC leaders Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge along with leaders of regional parties such as Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav, Mehbooba Mufti, and Tejashwi Yadav.

The chill is slowly settling in Delhi's air, so is pollution and protest. It is that time of the year when the pleasant temperatures make going out in Delhi an absolute delight but the air quality keeps worsening with AQI already crossing the 400-mark.

It is also turning out to be a season of protest in Delhi. The opposition alliance INDIA bloc, building on the preceding protests, held a massive rally yesterday at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, demanding the resignation of election chief Gyanesh Kumar.

Leader of the opposition, Rahul Gandhi, has stepped up his pressure campaign against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led government and said after Kumar, the opposition will stand against PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.