Indian student groups in London protest against CEC Gyanesh Kumar, SIR; Govt supporters hold counter-protest

The Hindu – International

You are logged in

Loading…

You don’t have any Active Subscription.

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one.

Your active subscription(s)

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials,
Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

Products you’ve access to

Additional Subscription Benefits

Account Settings

Need help with your subscription?

Weather News October 17, 2026 e-Paper

The View From India
Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective.

First Day First Show
News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming.

Today's Cache
Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day.

Science For All
The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in!

Data Point
Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers

THEdge
At the cutting edge of education and careers

Health Matters
Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there

Gender Agenda
Stories from beyond the binary.

The Hindu On Books
Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features.

Weather News October 17, 2026 e-Paper

Updated – October 17, 2026 08:55 pm IST – London

People supporting and opposing the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Cockroach Janta Party gather at Parliament Square, in London on October 17, 2026
| Photo Credit: ANI

Hundreds gathered at Mahatma Gandhi’s statue at Parliament Square in London on Saturday (October 17, 2026) for a protest organised by the Opposition Congress and UK-based Indian students’ groups against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

While the “Stop Vote Chori” protest cheered for activist Dhruv Rathee as the keynote speaker, chants of “Modi, Modi” rang out from a smaller group across the Gandhi statue, being kept apart by Metropolitan Police officers.

Anti-CEC protest updates on October 17, 2026

The face-off between the groups got heated as each tried to drown out the other’s chants.

“We don’t want any foreign interference. I am here at Parliament Square to address Indians and NRIs,” said Mr. Rathee, addressing the gathering in Hindi.

“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,” he said.

His address followed slogans of “Inquilab Zindabad”, “Vande Mataram” and the reading of the preamble of the Constitution of India.

The protest was organised by the Indian Overseas Congress Youth wing and supported by several diaspora platforms including Save Democracy, Students’ Federation of India (SFI) U.K. and South Asia Solidarity Group among others.

Meanwhile, India Diaspora (ID) U.K. had issued an “Urgent appeal to all London Bharat Premi Janta” to gather in counter-protest.

ID U.K. founder Hirdesh Gupta said: “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 big turnout followed a smaller protest and counter-protest gathering outside the High Commission of India in London on Friday (October 16, 2026).

The demonstration on Saturday (October 17, 2026) is among a series since an “Emergency Protest” on Tuesday, called to “amplify” the demands of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) — including the demand for the removal of Gyanesh Kumar and the scrapping of the SIR of electoral rolls in India.

The Election Commission maintains that the exercise is intended to update electoral rolls by identifying deceased, duplicate, shifted and otherwise ineligible entries.

Published – October 17, 2026 08:53 pm IST

Election Commission of India

/

United Kingdom

/

demonstration

Copyright© 2026, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

BACK TO TOP

Terms & conditions   |   Institutional Subscriber

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

Fonte: The Hindu – International