Rahul Gandhi urges Delhi traders to demand removal of election commissioner

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi appealed to traders in Delhi on Monday, asking them to tell Prime Minister Narendra Modi to dismiss Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, whom he described as "accused no. 4." Gandhi said the protests over alleged vote irregularities would stop within 30 seconds if the official were removed.

"To every trader in Delhi: We love you and hear you. The Government shut the metro, sealed our roads and locked down our capital," Gandhi posted on X.

"With a stolen vote nothing is safe - your shop, your savings, your children's future," he added, referring to the opposition's "vote chori" campaign.

The Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI) had earlier urged Gandhi to postpone the INDIA bloc's rally scheduled for November 1 at Ramlila Maidan, warning that the event could disrupt business worth billions of rupees during the peak Diwali shopping period. In a letter, CTI chairman Brijesh Goyal highlighted that Delhi’s wholesale and retail markets typically see a surge in activity in the week leading up to Dhanteras on November 6 and Diwali on November 8, with total business turnover around ₹25,000 crore.

Goyal and the traders' body requested that the rally be delayed until after November 10 to avoid harming commercial activity. The opposition rally is intended to pressure the government over alleged vote theft and to call for the resignation of the chief election commissioner over concerns about the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Earlier protests on October 12 had reached the Supreme Court, and the opposition bloc pledged to continue its campaign.