2026 Anti-CEC protests

The 2026 protests against the Chief Election Commissioner of India, also referred to in news reports as the anti-CEC protests, are a series of demonstrations demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and changes to the Election Commission of India's Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The protests began in late September 2026 after an investigation in The Indian Express reported that the other two election commissioners had formally objected, on multiple occasions, to decisions connected with the revision. They have brought together opposition parties in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party, and student and civil-society groups, with protests in New Delhi, Mumbai, and other cities.

Background Gyanesh Kumar, a retired 1988-batch Indian Administrative Service officer of the Kerala cadre, became the 26th Chief Election Commissioner of India on 19 February 2025. He had been appointed an election commissioner in March 2024 and is the first CEC appointed under the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023. The other members of the three-member commission during the dispute are Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

The SIR's primary objective as an exercise is to revise and verify electoral rolls. According to The Indian Express, the process began in Bihar in June 2025 and was later extended nationally; the newspaper reported that more than 13 crore names had been removed from draft rolls in 30 states and union territories. Opposition parties called the deletions "vote theft," while the ECI and Bharatiya Janata Party said they removed duplicate, deceased, and ineligible entries.

Protests

September 2026 On 24 September 2026, the CJP, that had earlier campaigned for the resignation of the Union education minister, gave Kumar 48 hours to resign and said it would begin nationwide protests if he did not. Its stated demands included his resignation, criminal proceedings, a freeze on upcoming assembly elections, and a rollback of the SIR.

On 25 September, the Indian National Congress led protests in multiple states calling for Kumar’s resignation and, in some statements, his arrest. Police used tear gas and water cannons in places including Chandigarh, Patna, Lucknow and Punjab, and tear-gas shells were reported in Imphal. Demonstrators were detained in several states, including Assam, where state Congress president Gaurav Gogoi was detained. Reuters reported protests in at least a dozen states. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the commission of vote theft; the BJP described the campaign as a reaction to electoral defeat.

On 30 September, leaders of the INDIA bloc, meeting in New Delhi, announced a “Save Democracy March” at district level from 2 to 8 October, a march by opposition members of parliament to the ECI on 6 October, and a later meeting with President Droupadi Murmu. Demands included Kumar’s resignation, use of pre-SIR rolls, a return to ballot papers, and an appeal process for excluded voters. Attendees included Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and others.

October 2026

Protests on 2 October, Gandhi Jayanti, included a CJP gathering at Shivaji Park in Mumbai, which the BBC described as drawing thousands of mostly young participants. The group said this was the first of a series of October actions ending in a Delhi rally.

Demonstrations continued in Delhi and Mumbai on 3 and 4 October. In Delhi, the All India Students' Association led a march toward Jantar Mantar that was stopped by police barricades on Ashoka Road. The Hindu reported that nearly 500 people were detained on 4 October and taken away in buses; other reports gave a lower detention figure of about 110 for the same day’s clashes and said 12 to 15 police personnel were injured. AISA national president Neha Bora was among those detained. A woman journalist covering an earlier day of the protest alleged sexual harassment and manhandling by a policeman; opposition leaders condemned the reported treatment of women journalists.

In Mumbai on 4 October, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray led a “Virat Garjana Morcha” from Metro Cinema to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters, with Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leaders also taking part. The Hindu reported nearly 6,000 participants. Uddhav Thackeray alleged that about 13 crore voters had been denied the franchise; Raj Thackeray called for the SIR to be cancelled and for ballot-paper voting.

On 5 October, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the party’s demands Kumar’s resignation, cancellation of the SIR, and ballot-paper elections were “non-negotiable,” and that the party supported civil-society and youth protests. The Supreme Court was scheduled the same day to hear petitions seeking Kumar’s suspension and challenging decisions said to have been taken without the concurrence of the other two commissioners.

Announced next steps included an opposition MPs’ march to the ECI headquarters on 6 October, a CJP protest at Jantar Mantar on 10 October, and further INDIA bloc rallies in October and November, including a proposed Delhi rally on 1 November.

Demands and responses Opposition parties have demanded Kumar's resignation and the suspension or rollback of the SIR. They also want paper ballots, older voter lists, and an appeal process for excluded voters. Some Congress leaders have called for his arrest, while the CJP has sought a freeze on upcoming elections and criminal case against Kumar.

As of early October 2026, Kumar had not publicly responded to the resignation calls. The ECI said its decisions were lawful and unanimous, while the BJP called the protests politically motivated.

2026 Anti-CEC protests

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