September 1, 2026 

CPI Rally at Ramlila Maidan: “Badlaav Zaroori Hai”

Speakers Call for Systemic Change, Jail-Bharo and Defence of the Constitution

Communist Party of India’s historic “Badlaav Zaroori Hai” Rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan brought together nearly 80,000 people from across the country, who braved police repression, house arrests, cancelled trains, floods, adverse weather and long journeys to raise a resounding call for change. The rally declared that the crisis facing the country is not merely about changing one government for another, but about defending the Constitution, secularism, federalism, social justice and the rights of workers, peasants, Adivasis, Dalits, women, youth and all working people.

Badlaav Zaroori Hai Rally Convenor and CPI National Secretary P. Sandosh Kumar MP introduced the dais to the thousands gathered, setting the tone for a massive assertion of people’s power. The gathering was addressed by CPI leaders, mass organisation representatives and leaders from different states, who placed before the people the Party’s political assessment as well as its programme for intensifying the struggle.

CPI Senior Leader Pallab Sengupta placed a condolence resolution remembering the victims of the devastating floods in Nepal and Bihar. The resolution expressed solidarity with the families who had lost their loved ones, homes, livelihoods and livestock, and with all those facing untold suffering because of the floods.

Prof. Dinesh Varshney, CPI Delhi Secretary and National Executive member, delivered the welcome address, formally welcoming the thousands of comrades who had converged on the national capital. He underlined the significance of holding the rally in Delhi at a time when democratic rights and constitutional institutions are under sustained attack.

CPI General Secretary D. Raja, in his inaugural address, thanked the tens of thousands who had reached Ramlila Maidan despite enormous adversities. He saluted comrades who travelled for days, those whose trains were cancelled, and those who faced police harassment and obstruction, particularly in Uttar Pradesh. The repression, he said, had only demonstrated the determination of the people. The government and the RSS-BJP may have attempted to stop the mobilisation, but the call for change has become louder than they can imagine.

Raja said the struggle is fundamentally about saving the Constitution, defending secular democracy and securing social justice. The people cannot remain silent while constitutional values are undermined and public assets are handed over to corporate interests. He called upon comrades to return to their states and intensify the struggle, emphasising that the CPI would remain with the people, learn from their struggles and help lead them. “The people are the makers of our history,” he reminded the gathering.

Amarjeet Kaur, senior CPI Secretariat Member and AITUC General Secretary, declared that the Modi regime must be toppled and urged the people to learn from history. She stressed that the CPI is not speaking merely of governments coming and going. The present crisis, she argued, is rooted in a deeper political and ideological project that seeks to transform the character of the Indian Republic. Recalling the Party’s assessment since the Puducherry conference of 2015, she said the change of 2014 was not simply a transfer of power but represented something fundamental and dangerous.

She contrasted the sacrifices of workers, peasants and red-flag bearers with the history of the RSS and its politics of division. She warned against the attempt to impose majoritarian politics, weaken secularism and push society towards the social order represented by Manusmriti. She called for change to defend the country, defend the Constitution, defeat capitalism and advance towards a socialist system.

Dr. Bhalchandra Kango, CPI National Secretary, placed the struggle in its international and foreign-policy context. He said the battle in India is part of a wider global struggle between forces seeking domination, exclusion and war and those fighting for peace, democracy and liberation. He condemned the continuing massacre in Palestine, attacks on Iran and the war in Ukraine, calling for an end to all wars.

Kango invoked the struggles of peoples across the world, including Palestine and Cuba, and underlined the principle that no one can be truly liberated until everyone is liberated. He also criticised the growing influence of corporate interests in India and the government’s policies that favour big business at the expense of ordinary people. The fight against authoritarianism, communalism, imperialism and corporate domination, he said, must be pursued together.

Comrade Rama Krushna Panda focused on education and healthcare, stressing that Badlaav zaroori hai precisely because the country continues to maintain a deeply unjust dual system — one system for the rich and another for the poor. “We want education for all, equal education. We want equal health services for all,” he declared.

He attacked the absence of a legal guarantee for MSP, the Labour Codes and proposed changes to the MMDR Act that threaten Adivasi jal-jungle-zameen. He emphasised that change cannot mean merely replacing one political face with another. It must transform the system that produces inequality. He called for unity among all Left and democratic forces and reiterated the Party’s determination to launch a massive jail-bharo movement.

Dr. Girish Chandra Sharma, CPI Secretariat member from Uttar Pradesh, congratulated comrades who reached Delhi despite house arrests, police obstruction and what he described as the Uttar Pradesh police’s high-handedness. He said the attempt to stop the mobilisation had failed and that the “chariot of change” could not be halted.

He attacked the politics of communalism and recalled the growing anger over the misuse of state machinery. Referring to the controversy surrounding the Ram Mandir chanda, he argued that the same determination displayed by the police in targeting CPI comrades should have been shown in protecting public money and holding those responsible for its alleged misuse accountable. He asserted that the CPI’s struggle in Uttar Pradesh would intensify and recalled the Party’s earlier call of “BJP hatao, desh bachao.”

P. Sandosh Kumar MP, Badlaav Zaroori Hai Rally Convenor and CPI National Secretary, greeted the nearly 80,000 people gathered at Ramlila Maidan. Recalling the extraordinary hardships comrades had faced to reach Delhi — from cancelled trains and arrests to police restrictions and other obstacles — he said their presence itself was a political message. The historic mobilisation, he said, had demonstrated that the future belongs to the people and to those fighting for justice. “The future is ours,” he asserted, calling upon comrades to carry the spirit of the rally back to every state, district and village.

Annie Raja, CPI Secretariat member, highlighted the rising atrocities against women and the systematic marginalisation of women in public life. She questioned the government’s claims of empowerment while women workers such as Anganwadi, ASHA and mid-day-meal workers continue to receive meagre remuneration despite performing essential services.

She also spoke strongly about the rights of Adivasis and the protection of their distinct identity, condemning attempts to drive them from their forests and land and to erase their identity. She demanded an end to caste oppression and equal rights for Dalits. She also warned against attacks on minorities and the misuse of constitutional and parliamentary institutions. “This country is ours, not anyone’s father’s,” she declared, affirming that women would fight for every right guaranteed by the Constitution of Babasaheb Ambedkar.

Palla Venkat Reddy, CPI Secretariat member from Telangana, highlighted the continuing injustice faced by Telangana and the systematic weakening of the country’s federal structure. He stressed that India’s diversity can be protected only through genuine federalism and respect for the constitutional rights of states. The growing centralisation of power, he argued, threatens democracy as well as the economic and political interests of the states.

K. Ramakrishna, CPI National Secretary, condemned the atrocities and attacks on democratic rights and pointed to the government’s total lack of a credible plan for the country’s future. He criticised the failure to fulfil the promises made in 2014, the growing economic distress and the surrender of national interests before external pressures. He called for the unity of secular, democratic and Left forces to defeat the politics of division and authoritarianism.

AISF President Viraaj Devang spoke of the growing unrest and insecurity among the new generation. Young people, he said, are facing an education system that is increasingly inaccessible and insecure, with commercialisation placing quality education beyond the reach of workers’ and peasants’ children. The aspirations of India’s youth cannot be met through slogans; they require secure education, employment and democratic rights.

AIYF General Secretary Sukhjinder Mahesari focused on the unemployment crisis and the emerging threat that artificial intelligence and technological changes could pose to employment when introduced without social safeguards. He demanded a comprehensive national employment guarantee law that provides meaningful, dignified employment to young people. Employment, he said, must be treated as a constitutional and democratic right. Following the legacy of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, he declared that the youth are not afraid of struggle or imprisonment.

Before the conclusion of the hugely successful Badlaav Zaroori Hai Rally, the CPI charted out its future programme, making it clear that the movement for change will continue until a better future is achieved for the people. The Party called for 2 October, Gandhi Jayanti, to be observed as Communal Harmony Day; 7 November as Revolution Day; and a nationwide Jail Bharo Aandolan on 1, 2 and 3 December, with a call for at least five lakh people to court arrest over the demand for Badlaav and the people’s rights and demands associated with it.

The rally has concluded, but the struggle has only begun. The message from Ramlila Maidan was clear: the people are ready for change, and the CPI will continue to organise and lead the struggle for constitutional democracy, secularism, social justice, workers’ and peasants’ rights, and a socialist alternative.

Badlaav zaroori hai. Badlaav hokar rahega!

Communist Party of India

Central Office 

New Delhi

Tele: 011 23235546

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