Dhruv Rathee says he is in London, urges Indians to join ‘vote theft’ protest

YouTuber Dhruv Rathee has called for a protest outside Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in London’s Parliament Square on Sunday, urging Indians to join a demonstration against what he called vote theft and murder of democracy.

“I’ve just reached London. It’s time the world sees the reality of vote chor and murderer of democracy,” Rathee said in a video post on X on Saturday.

“International danka bajane ka time aa gaya hai,” he added, calling on people to join the protest at 12 noon on Sunday.

The London protest call comes amid international criticism of India's handling of protests against the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision that has deleted over 130 million names from voter lists across India.

On Friday, six US Democratic lawmakers urged US secretary of state Marco Rubio to raise concerns with India over alleged excessive use of force against student protesters, detention of demonstrators and surveillance of protests linked to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).

Rathee’s announcement comes a week after he alleged that he was taken away by people in plain clothes ahead of a planned protest in Delhi against chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on October 10.

Speaking at a press conference on October 11, Rathee rejected the description of the incident as a detention, saying, “I was not detained; I was kidnapped.”

Rathee said he had travelled to India to participate in the protest because he believed allegations of vote theft and irregularities in the Election Commission were a major issue.

He also asserted his Indian citizenship, displaying an Indian passport in a video posted on X amid social media claims questioning his nationality.