On 25 September 2026, several opposition parties, including the Congress, held protests across the country demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, while the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) had separately demanded his resignation and appealed to Gen Z to join its proposed agitation. In Delhi, police detained protesters, including Neha Bora, who had reached Jantar Mantar. The protests followed a report by The Indian Express that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had filed at least 14 written objections over the previous 10 months concerning the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and other Election Commission decisions (here, here, and here).

In this context, a video is being shared on social media (here, here, and here) with the claim that it shows Gen-Z protesters taking to the streets of Delhi in September 2026, demanding the removal of EVMs and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Let’s verify the truth behind the video in this article.

The archived post can be found here.

Claim: The video shows Gen-Z protesters in Delhi in September 2026 demanding the removal of EVMs and the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar.

Fact: The viral video is not from the September 2026 protests. It shows a protest against EVMs held at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, on 31 January 2024, organised by 22 organisations and addressed by Bharat Mukti Morcha president Waman Meshram. Gyanesh Kumar was appointed as an Election Commissioner only on 15 March 2024 and was not part of the Election Commission during the January 2024 protest. He later took charge as the 26th Chief Election Commissioner of India on 19 February 2025. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.

A reverse image search of keyframes from the viral video led us to several social media posts (here, here, and here) (archived) from late January and early February 2024 featuring the same visuals. According to these posts, the visuals are from a protest against EVMs, led by Waman Meshram, with a large march to the Election Commission office scheduled for 31 January 2024 at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi.

Taking clues from these posts, we used relevant keywords and found (here, here, and here) that 22 organisations, including the Bharat Mukti Morcha, Rashtriya Kisan Morcha, and Bahujan Mukti Party, held a protest against Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at Jantar Mantar on 31 January 2024. The protest was addressed by Waman Meshram, the national president of the Bharat Mukti Morcha.

We also found a Facebook post by Waman Meshram featuring pictures from the protest held at Jantar Mantar on 31 January 2024, showing a similar location as seen in the viral video.

We also found a video uploaded on Waman Meshram’s YouTube channel on the same day, featuring visuals from the same event and showing a similar crowd and location to those seen in the viral video.

PIB Fact Check also debunked the claim, stating that the video is old and dates back to January 2024.

It is important to note that Rajiv Kumar was the Chief Election Commissioner from 15 May 2022 to 18 February 2025. Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu joined the Election Commission as Election Commissioners on 15 March 2024. At the time of the 31 January 2024 protest, Gyanesh Kumar was not an Election Commissioner. He completed his tenure in government service on 31 January 2024 and was subsequently appointed as an Election Commissioner on 15 March 2024. Gyanesh Kumar later took charge as the 26th Chief Election Commissioner of India on 19 February 2025.

To sum up, a 2024 video of a protest against EVMs in Delhi is shared as a September 2026 protest demanding Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.