Thousands of demonstrators rallied in New Delhi on Sunday, November 1, demanding that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resign over disputed changes to India’s voter rolls, Al Jazeera reported.
Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi headed the demonstration, extending a protest campaign that began in late September. Opposition parties allege that the revision removed more than 130 million names and disproportionately excluded Muslims and other minorities they consider unlikely to vote for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Election Commission denies favoring any party and says people wrongly removed from the rolls can register again. The BJP, meanwhile, accuses its opponents of weakening democracy by contesting legitimate election procedures.
Authorities introduced traffic diversions and deployed hundreds of police officers, some equipped with shields and batons, along with riot-control vehicles. Protesters carrying national and party flags marched toward Ramlila Maidan as opposition leaders rode in an open-top jeep.
Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda rejected the rally as political theater and told the ANI news agency that its organizers were seeking to foment anarchy under the banner of democracy.
According to Al Jazeera, the protests followed concerns raised by Kumar’s two deputies about voter-list revisions, registration and digital systems. Opposition parties, student groups and the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party have since held near-daily demonstrations. India’s next general election is due in 2029.