"I am here at Parliament Square to address Indians and NRIs."
Hundreds of people gathered in London’s Parliament Square to protest against India’s chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the country’s voter list revision, as YouTuber Dhruv Rathee addressed the crowd.
At the same time, supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi staged a rival demonstration nearby.
The “Stop Vote Chori” (Stop Vote Theft) protest took place on October 17 at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, with Rathee as keynote speaker.
Organised by the youth wing of the Indian Overseas Congress and UK-based Indian student groups, the demonstration called for Kumar’s removal amid allegations of electoral irregularities.
Across the square, a smaller group of Modi supporters chanted “Modi, Modi”, with Metropolitan Police officers keeping the two sides apart as tensions rose and each group attempted to drown out the other’s chants.
Rathee told the crowd in Hindi: “We don’t want any foreign interference.
“I am here at Parliament Square to address Indians and NRIs.
“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.”
The protest also featured chants of “Inquilab Zindabad” (Long live the revolution) and “Vande Mataram” (I bow to thee, Mother), followed by a reading of the preamble to India’s Constitution.
A message from all Indians in London
Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhodh https://t.co/EQxZ0lnGPd
— Dhruv Rathee (@dhruv_rathee) October 17, 2026
Several organisations backed the demonstration, including Save Democracy, the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) UK and the South Asia Solidarity Group.
A counter-protest was organised by India Diaspora UK, which had issued an “urgent appeal” for supporters to attend.
Its founder, Hirdesh Gupta, said: “The Indian diaspora in the UK stands firmly, shoulder to shoulder, with Modi Ji and his government in their vision of a strong, united and developed India.”
The demonstrations followed a smaller protest and counter-protest outside the High Commission of India in London on October 16, as opposition to the voter list revision continued to prompt public gatherings in the UK.
The protests are part of a wider series of demonstrations following an “emergency protest” on Tuesday in support of the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which is demanding Kumar’s removal and an end to the revision process.
India’s Election Commission has said the revision is intended to remove deceased, duplicate, relocated and otherwise ineligible entries from voter lists.
The dispute over the process has fuelled protests and competing demonstrations, with opponents demanding changes to the electoral system while Modi supporters have rallied in defence of his government.
