Indian Student Groups Protest CEC Gyanesh Kumar in London, Counter-Protest Held

Indian student organizations and the Opposition Congress held a protest in London on Saturday, October 17, 2026, targeting Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The demonstration, dubbed “Stop Vote Chori,” took place at Parliament Square, near Mahatma Gandhi’s statue, drawing hundreds of participants.

Activist Dhruv Rathee served as the keynote speaker, addressing the gathering in Hindi. Rathee stated, “We don’t want any foreign interference. I am here at Parliament Square to address Indians and NRIs,” adding, “It is important to spread the message against ‘vote chori’ in our country. These protests will stop the moment the Chief Election Commissioner is replaced by a candidate that is chosen in agreement between the government and Leader of the Opposition.” Slogans like “Inquilab Zindabad” and “Vande Mataram” were heard, alongside the reading of the Constitution of India’s preamble.

Across the Gandhi statue, a smaller group conducted a counter-protest, chanting “Modi, Modi.” Metropolitan Police officers maintained separation between the two factions. The counter-demonstration was organized following an “Urgent appeal to all London Bharat Premi Janta” by India Diaspora (ID) U.K. Hirdesh Gupta, founder of ID U.K., affirmed, “The Indian diaspora in the U.K. stands firmly, shoulder to shoulder, with Modi Ji and his government in their vision of a strong, united and developed India.”

The Saturday event followed a smaller protest and counter-protest outside the High Commission of India in London on Friday, October 16, 2026, and is part of a series of demonstrations since an “Emergency Protest” on Tuesday. Demands from groups like the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) include the removal of Gyanesh Kumar and the scrapping of the SIR. The Election Commission maintains that the SIR exercise aims to update electoral rolls by identifying deceased, duplicate, shifted, and ineligible entries.

What to watch: Continued protests regarding electoral reforms.

Editor's note: Excellent coverage of the protest, counter-protest, and the specific demands mentioned in the source text.