Delhi Police have cleared a Congress rally at Ramlila Maidan on November 1, part of the INDIA bloc’s campaign against the special intensive revision of electoral rolls, according to reports on October 17.
Ramlila Maidan is one of the three grounds designated for protests after Jantar Mantar was de-notified.
The rally follows a pattern of moves from the street to the courts, with the Supreme Court petition and the notice issued on October 15, and it gives the alliance a mass event to make its case, including its stated preference for ballot papers over electronic voting machines.
The Election Commission has not accepted the opposition’s description of the SIR in the reports reviewed, and the rally will test how far the campaign draws crowds.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge announced the mega rally after a meeting of the INDIA bloc on September 30, according to National Herald.
Kharge also said the alliance had agreed that elections should be held with ballot papers instead of electronic voting machines, according to the same report.
Ramlila Maidan is one of three grounds in East Delhi named as designated protest sites after Jantar Mantar was de-notified, along with Burari Ground and CBD Ground, according to reports on October 12.
Some reports say the permission came after the police had refused permission to the Cockroach Janta Party for events at Jantar Mantar and Connaught Place. This comparison is made by those outlets and National Herald does not carry it.
Congress and other opposition parties have said the SIR leads to large-scale deletion of voters, which the Election Commission has not accepted in the reports reviewed.
The opposition leaders filed a petition in the Supreme Court on October 12, and on October 15 the court issued notice to the Election Commission, according to LiveLaw and ANI.
The reports on the clearance were published on October 17, 2026.
Ramlila Maidan, Delhi (file image from a past event), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0