The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is staging a rally of its own in New Delhi, setting the stage for a battle of marches.
The BJP march will take place in West Delhi in remembrance of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, with the ruling party accusing the Congress of staging a political rally on the anniversary of the violence.
The deadly riots took place following the assassination of the then prime minister, Congress' Indira Gandhi— opposition leader Rahul Gandhi's paternal grandmother — by two Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984.
"The sobs of the 1984 riot victims cannot be drowned out by the noise of rallies!" the BJP wrote on X.
"The wounds of 1984 are still raw today. Congress cannot bury them under the din of its theatrics!" the party added.
The BJP also shared videos from different states in the country of rallies held over the weekend under its campaign named "Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy" to counter the Congress and the opposition.
The BJP deems the opposition protests over alleged voter roll manipulations as attempts to "create anarchy."
India's political opposition is carrying out a major march in New Delhi to protest the nationwide revision of electoral rolls that they say benefits Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
They are also seeking the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The 'Chalo Dilli' march, heralded by the main opposition Congress party, will begin from Central Delhi's Connaught Place Minto Road Junction to reach Ramlila Maidan.
Top faces of the opposition alliance — called the INDIA bloc — are among those expected to participate. These include Congress' Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal's Tejashwi Yadav.
India's youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which carried out its own demonstrations against Kumar last month, has also backed the opposition rally.
What is India's electoral roll controversy?
Under a contentious nationwide voter-verification exercise, called the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), around 130 million names have been purged from electoral rolls.
The opposition and critics say that those struck off the voter lists include a large number of minority voters and accuse Modi's BJP of using the exercise as a tool to secure future electoral gains. BJP denied the allegations.
The outcry against election chief Kumar began in September after an investigative report by an Indian daily said that there were divisions in the country's poll body — the Election Commission of India (ECI) — over the revision of voter lists, which it oversees.
Concerns emerged over the ECI's independence.
The ECI has maintained the SIR removes deceased, relocated and duplicate voters and helps prevent the inclusion of "foreign illegal immigrants."
Opposition stages symbolic impeachment of election chief
On Saturday evening, the INDIA bloc staged a mock impeachment of the chief election commissioner. The symbolic proceedings saw opposition members reenacting a parliamentary session in a garden at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's residence.
"I don't think anything like this has ever happened in history. The entire opposition sitting in a garden to discuss the impeachment of the CEC, it is absurd," leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi said.
He added that the opposition lawmakers had to hold the mock exercise — which even featured furniture, seating arrangements and carpeting resembling the Lok Sabha (lower house of the Indian parliament) — because they "have nowhere else to go."
"We have no other option. Every single institution ... is closed for us," Gandhi said.
Meanwhile on Sunday, the opposition expects thousands of supporters to descend upon Ramlila Maidan.
It is the first major demonstration to be held at the famous ground, located between Old and New Delhi, since it was labeled as one of the three designated protest sites in the capital last month.
Early visuals showed supporters beginning to gather at Ramlila Maidan and posters of the 'Chalo Dilli' march propped up in the capital.
The Delhi Police said that around 200 to 250 CCTV cameras have been set up at the site as part of the security arrangements.
News agency ANI reported that around 4,000 security personnel have been deployed at Ramlila Maidan.
"The organizers have set up various enclosures, and we have police personnel stationed within them. There are also pathways between these enclosures, where our police personnel are deployed to ensure the area remains secure," deputy commissioner of police (Central District) Rohit Rajbir Singh told ANI.
The capital's traffic police announced curbs and diversions in Central Delhi ahead of the rally.
