Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday (October 18, 2026) said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and CEC Gyanesh Kumar will face justice and pay the price for ‘vote chori’.

Mr. Gandhi joined the Congress’s ‘Goy Rakhon Yatra‘ in Margao, walking two kilometres with workers and leaders.

“The entire country knows that CEC Gyanesh Kumar implements ‘vote chori’ and Amit Shah and PM Modi back him,” he said while addressing a public meeting in Goa.

He said the Congress is a protector of the Constitution, adding that Mr. Modi, Mr. Shah and Gyanesh Kumar know they can’t escape from us. “PM Modi, Amit Shah and CEC Gyanesh Kumar will face justice and pay the price for what they have done,” he added.

Mr. Gandhi said India used to have a world-class education system earlier, but now pellet guns are being used against student protesters.

A meeting of DMK MPs on Saturday (October 17, 2026) demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that he had overseen the deletion of voters’ names under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), overriding the objections of the other two Election Commissioners.

“He must be removed and subjected to an appropriate inquiry,” said a resolution adopted at the meeting chaired by DMK president M.K. Stalin.

The DMK also made a case for a return to paper ballots, arguing that the credibility of electronic voting machines (EVMs) had come under scrutiny because of alleged discrepancies between votes recorded in EVMs and the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips.

“That is why the DMK has been demanding the counting of VVPAT slips. People’s faith in elections can be restored only by returning to the paper ballot system,” the party said.

The meeting expressed concern over the functioning of the Election Commission of India, stating that public confidence in elections was eroding because of what it termed the Commission’s failure to function impartially.

Representation to President

The party decided to submit a representation to the President seeking the complete cancellation of the SIR before the Assembly elections. It also demanded that future elections be conducted on the basis of the existing electoral rolls.

“The SIR should ensure voters’ rights and not deprive them of their right to vote. Adequate time should be provided for the addition and deletion of names,” the party said.

The DMK also expressed support for protests organised by a students’ organisation and the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), claiming that the protests had made a greater impact than those organised by the Congress.

DMK terms Congress ‘backstabbers’

“The Congress is intimidated by the impact of the protests. Though it remained an onlooker initially, it came under pressure to join them as they gained momentum. Those familiar with the Congress’s history know that it would backstab others after riding piggyback. The party is not ready for a discussion on the SIR in Tamil Nadu and Kerala,” the DMK alleged.

The INDIA bloc will hold a protest march in Delhi against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh on the ‘vote chori’ issue on Monday (October 12, 2026), while a delegation of its senior leaders will submit a memorandum to the Chief Justice of India for his intervention in the matter.

On Monday (October 12, 2026), the Congress and the entire INDIA bloc and the country’s youth will again take to the streets in massive numbers. This time too, the voice will echo across the nation — louder than ever before, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said.

Anti-CEC protest LIVE updates

“We will also meet the Chief Justice (of India) and demand that when the Constitution is being torn to shreds on Delhi’s streets and democracy is being crushed, the guardians of the law cannot sit with blindfolds on,” he said.

“Will we stay silent while the Constitution is ripped apart? That will never happen. We will ensure accountability is fixed!” he added.

Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said the party appeals to every Indian concerned about democracy’s survival to join the INDIA bloc’s “massive” protest march in Delhi on Monday (October 12, 2026) against the nationwide “vote chori” orchestrated by the Modi-Shah regime.

“Yesterday, we held a comprehensive meeting with various leaders to prepare for this march,” he said.

“INDIA bloc MPs, leaders, workers and all concerned citizens will hold a huge protest march against Gyanesh and Co, and a delegation of our senior leaders will submit a memorandum to the Hon’ble CJI (Surya Kant) for his intervention in this crisis,” the Congress general secretary said.

“Gyanesh must go. There will be no backing down,” he added.

The remarks come a day after INDIA bloc leaders met President Droupadi Murmu and raised its “vote chori” claim to demand Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation and repeal of all Assembly polls held in the last two years.

After the meeting, Rahul Gandhi said he was “shocked” that the president did not deny the “election theft” charge.

Mr. Gandhi also said the opposition leaders would go to the Supreme Court on Monday to meet Chief Justice Surya Kant and hand over a memorandum to him, as they wanted to avail all options available.

The Opposition grouping has taken to the streets since Tuesday (October 6, 2026), when it first marched from Parliament to the Election Commission’s office, but was stopped on the way, with Rahul Gandhi staging an eight-hour sit-in inside the Akashvani Bhawan complex.

On Wednesday (October 7, 2026)) and Thursday (October 8, 2026), the Opposition MPs had lunch in central Delhi, then staged a march, first to Jantar Mantar and then to Rajghat on Thursday, alleging that Modi, Shah and the CEC hijacked the country through a criminal conspiracy of vote chori.

The Opposition’s aggressive push comes days after a report in The Indian Express highlighted internal differences in the poll body, with Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi objecting on record at least 14 times in the last 10 months, including on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Last week, the INDIA bloc finalised a joint action plan on the SIR row, including holding rallies and “save democracy” marches.