LONDON: Hundreds of people gathered at Parliament Square in London on Saturday to protest against India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and alleged electoral irregularities, with prominent YouTuber Dhruv Rathee addressing the demonstration.
The protesters, who assembled in front of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and called for greater transparency in India’s electoral process. The demonstration was organised by opposition-linked groups and UK-based Indian student organisations.
Dhruv Rathee, who attended the protest as a keynote speaker, was welcomed by demonstrators with cheers and slogans.
Addressing the gathering in Hindi, he said he had come to speak to Indians and non-resident Indians (NRIs), stressing the need to raise awareness about what protesters describe as “vote theft.”
This is London right now
@narendramodi https://t.co/jBUAFUjiKS
— Dhruv Rathee (@dhruv_rathee) October 17, 2026
Dhruv Rathee said such protests could continue until the chief election commissioner was replaced by a candidate acceptable to both the government and the opposition.
He emphasised the importance of electoral transparency and maintaining public confidence in democratic institutions.
Demonstrators raised slogans including “Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod” (Vote thief, vacate the throne) and criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.
Flags associated with the Congress party, communist organisations and the Indian Workers Association were also seen at the gathering.
Protesters expressed concerns that the electoral roll revision process could lead to irregularities and called for greater scrutiny of the exercise.
India’s Election Commission, however, maintains that the SIR process is intended to update voter lists by removing deceased, duplicate, relocated and otherwise ineligible entries.
Dhruv Rathee Speech from Parliament Square in London 👇🏻
@dhruv_rathee we are behind you figuratively and literally! https://t.co/e6Q4oAhQ2b
— Kamran (@CitizenKamran) October 17, 2026
A stuffed monkey toy carried by a participant also attracted attention on social media. The gesture was linked in online discussions to a viral slogan mocking Narendra Modi.
The supplied account also refers to Pakistani participants at the demonstration; however, the reports reviewed do not independently establish their presence or numbers.
A smaller group of Modi supporters also gathered at Parliament Square, waving Indian national flags and chanting “Modi, Modi,” “Vande Mataram” and “Bharat Mata Ki Jai.”
The two groups exchanged slogans, with tensions rising as each attempted to drown out the other’s chants. London’s Metropolitan Police kept the groups separated to maintain order.
Hirdesh Gupta, founder of India Diaspora UK, said a section of the Indian community in Britain continued to support Modi and his government. He argued that organising such demonstrations abroad risked creating divisions within the Indian diaspora and questioned the need to internationalise the dispute.