# Kharge calls all elections illegal, demands ballot papers 2026-10-03T12:01:14+00:00 | Politics | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 4 independent outlets (6 source reports) Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday, 3 October 2026, demanded the dissolution of the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, declaring that all elections held so far were illegal and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and all chief ministers were illegitimate. He called for fresh polls using ballot papers instead of EVMs, alleging misuse of electronic voting machines and irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Kharge said the opposition would continue agitations across the country, with a major march to the Election Commission in New Delhi planned for 6 October 2026. He accused the Modi government of destroying democracy by bringing a law that grants immunity to the CEC and election commissioners from legal action. The INDIA bloc, at its meeting on 30 September 2026, had already demanded the return of ballot papers and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The Hindu, Business Standard and Economic Times carry Kharge’s full statement labelling all elections illegal, including his demand for dissolution of the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. The Indian Express and The Hindu also report the INDIA bloc’s six demands and the planned march on 6 October. Deccan Chronicle adds that the TVK will attend the bloc’s Saturday meeting, where CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s removal is expected to be a key demand. All sources attribute the opposition’s grievances to the same trigger: the Indian Express report that two election commissioners objected 14 times to SIR decisions. None of the outlets carry a response from the government or the Election Commission. The next concrete step is the opposition MPs’ march to the EC on 6 October 2026. ## Coverage Coverage: 6 sources, 6 neutral - news.google.com (neutral report) Leads with INDIA bloc demands, includes EC response on SIR - news.google.com (2) (neutral report) Live updates of opposition actions and protest calls - deccanchronicle.com (neutral report) Focuses on TVK joining bloc, reports opposition demands - economictimes.indiatimes.com (neutral report) Straight report of Kharge's 'illegal elections' statement - business-standard.com (neutral report) Wire-like report of Kharge's press conference remarks - thehindu.com (neutral report) Full verbatim report of Kharge's Kalaburagi address This brief was synthesised by AI from the 6 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Tags: Election Commission, EVMs, Gyanesh Kumar, INDIA bloc, Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/kharge-calls-all-elections-illegal-demands-ballot-papers/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/kharge-calls-all-elections-illegal-demands-ballot-papers/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/