Protestsupdated 1h ago2 min read
Dhruv Rathee Leads Stop Vote Chori Protest in London Accusing Narendra Modi of Disenfranchising Voters
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Dhruv Rathee led a London protest alleging Modi's disenfranchisement through vote irregularities. Hundreds gathered at Parliament Square by Gandhi statue; rival pro-Modi demonstrators attended.
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London protest at Gandhi statue
Dhruv Rathee led a “Stop Vote Chori” protest in London, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of disenfranchising millions of voters to benefit the BJP, and he addressed hundreds of protesters at the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament Square.
Rathee told the crowd in Hindi, “We don’t want any foreign interference. I am here at Parliament Square to address Indians and NRIs,” and he added, “It is important to spread the message against ‘vote chori’ in our country.”
Metropolitan Police officers kept Rathee’s group apart from a smaller counter-protest where chants of “Modi, Modi” rose metres away.
Hirdesh Gupta, founder of India Diaspora UK, 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.”
Chants, flags, and timing
Dhruv Rathee attended the protest outside the Mahatma Gandhi statue in London’s Parliament Square on Saturday, arriving two hours late after flying to London from India on Friday. Hundreds of Indian students turned up waving Communist flags, Congress flags and Indian Workers Association flags, and the protesters chanted “Modi is a traitor,” “Azadi,” and “Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod!”
A smaller counter-protest organised at the eleventh hour by pro-Modi supporters waved the tricolour while shouting “Vande Mataram”, “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Modi, Modi.” The face-off between the groups got heated as each tried to drown out the other’s chants, with Rathee speaking in Hindi at the gathering in Parliament Square.
International appeal and organisers
Delhi Police detained Rathee in Gurugram before the earlier Jantar Mantar protest, and Rathee asked people to gather at Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in Parliament Square at noon on Saturday. Rathee’s post on X said, “Join the protest tomorrow in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in Parliament Square at 12 pm if you’re here,” and Rathee called for, “It is time to make the issue resonate internationally.”
SFI-UK organised the demonstration in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in London’s Parliament Square on Saturday, 17 October, opposing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in India and demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The organisers said “over a thousand people attended the protest on Saturday,” and they quoted Rathee’s X post, “Join the protest tomorrow in front of the Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in parliament square at 12pm if you’re here [sic].”