Thousands join Indian opposition protest demanding poll chief's resignation

NEW DELHI: Thousands protested in Delhi on Sunday to demand the resignation of India’s election chief over a revision of voter lists, the latest in more than a month of opposition demonstrations challenging Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Led by Rahul Gandhi, a leader of the opposition Congress Party, Sunday’s protesters say the revision benefits Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

The protests and growing support for the opposition form the worst crisis for Modi since he came to power in 2014, though his government remains stable and the next general election is not due until 2029.

Authorities tightened security and warned of traffic diversions before protesters began a march from central Delhi to the designated rally site, where thousands had already assembled.

‘There should be accountability’, protester says

Hundreds of security personnel, some of them carrying batons and shields and accompanied by riot-control vehicles, surrounded the historic Ramlila Maidan ground as hundreds of people, many waving national and party flags, began moving towards it. Opposition party leaders led the march in an open-top jeep.

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Speaking at the rally, Gandhi said Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar would have to vacate his post, and his removal would be the first step towards bringing the country “back on the right track”.

The voter roll purge “is the theft of the voice of every single citizen of India. It is the theft of every citizen’s right to expression,” Gandhi said from the stage.“This is an act of betrayal against the nation. This is treason.”

Among the protesters listening to him was Reena Mahto, a member of the Congress’ student wing, who said four people from her family had been deleted from the voter list due to a false record that they had moved elsewhere.

She told Reuters the family had long lived in Jagdalpur in the central state of Chhattisgarh, but “now all of a sudden we have been marked as shifted from our own house,” adding, “There should be accountability, and we are here to seek that.”

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The change to voter rolls removed over 130 million names — more than the population of Japan. Opposition parties allege the deletions disproportionately affected Muslim voters and members of other minorities who are unlikely to support the BJP.

The Election Commission says the aim of the voter revision is to update voter lists to remove duplicate and ineligible voters. It has denied favouring any party and said wrongly deleted voters can re-enrol.

The BJP has accused rivals of trying to undermine democracy by questioning legitimate electoral processes.

Dinesh Singh said he was joining the protest for the sake of his children’s future.

“I am not affiliated with any political party,” he said. “I am here for a cause. I want the children to remember that we fought for their future.”

‘Conspiracy’ for ‘anarchy’, minister says

Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda, however, called the protest a “carefully orchestrated drama”.

“What is unfolding today at Ramlila Maidan is not an act of respect for democracy. It is a calculated conspiracy to plunge the nation into anarchy, all in the name of democracy,” he told news agency ANI.

The demonstration is the latest in a series of near-daily protests that opposition parties, student organisations and the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party have held since late September demanding the resignation of the election chief.

The protests erupted after the Indian Express newspaper reported that Kumar’s two deputies had raised several concerns internally about voter list revisions, registration procedures and digital systems.