New Delhi, October 2026 : The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will hold a mass protest in Delhi on October 15 against alleged vote theft and demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
AAP Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj said a meeting of party office-bearers was held at the party headquarters to discuss the campaign against alleged electoral irregularities and the demand for Kumar’s resignation. The meeting also discussed what the party described as police excesses by the government to suppress the movement and worked out a strategy to intensify the agitation.
The party has decided to organise a mass demonstration on October 15, with participation from MLAs, councillors and office-bearers at the state, district, assembly constituency and ward levels.
Bharadwaj said the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar was the party’s principal demand and asserted that the protest would continue until he stepped down.
“Our main demand is Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. Until he resigns, our protest will continue. Whether Delhi Police baton-charges us, drags us along the streets, tears our clothes or injures our heads, we will continue to demand our rights through non-violence and ensure that Gyanesh Kumar resigns,” Bharadwaj said.
He also criticised the government’s decision to withdraw Jantar Mantar’s designated status as a protest venue, claiming that it reflected the government’s nervousness over the growing movement.
According to Bharadwaj, the government was concerned that even the deployment of 50,000 police personnel would not prevent people, including children and young women, from reaching Jantar Mantar to participate in the demonstrations.
He alleged that the government was now attempting to move protesters away from the site. Bharadwaj said that if the authorities were unwilling to permit a demonstration at Jantar Mantar, they should allow the party to hold a peaceful protest at Ramlila Maidan instead.
Senior AAP leader Gopal Rai alleged that the Narendra Modi government was adopting authoritarian measures to protect the Chief Election Commissioner. He claimed the government believed it could suppress the agitation through police action, disruption of train and metro services, internet shutdowns and the registration of FIRs.
Rai said an important meeting had been convened with all party MLAs, councillors and office-bearers from the state, district, assembly constituency and ward levels. The meeting would formulate a strategy to intensify the agitation in the coming days.
The party’s demands include Kumar’s resignation, cancellation of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process and the establishment of a fair and impartial electoral system.
Rai described the agitation as a people’s movement aimed at protecting the country and its democratic institutions. He asserted that the campaign would continue until the Chief Election Commissioner resigned, the SIR process was scrapped and a system ensuring free and fair elections was established.
He further warned that if the government continued what the party termed repression, the movement, currently centred in Delhi, could soon spread nationwide.
The AAP’s proposed October 15 demonstration is part of its broader campaign against alleged electoral irregularities and its demand for changes to the current electoral process. The allegations and the party’s characterisation of the government’s actions reflect the AAP leadership’s stated position.
