Young protesters have taken to the streets of New Delhi to demand the resignation of Election Commission chief Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in a large-scale revision of India’s voter lists. On 3 October, the second straight day of demonstrations, police detained protesters near Jantar Mantar, the designated protest site, which was sealed off. AFP described the number as dozens, while local media reported more than 100. Police did not comment on the figures and said no permission had been given for the gatherings.
The protests are backed by opposition parties and student groups, including supporters of the All India Students’ Association and the Gen Z-led Cockroach Janta Party. The target is the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls, which removed millions of names from the lists. The Indian Express published an investigation last month alleging impropriety in the exercise. Opposition parties argue the changes favour Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP. The Election Commission has rejected allegations of wrongdoing, and Kumar himself has not commented.
The government’s handling has drawn its own criticism. Mobile internet was reportedly cut around protest areas, and the US technology entrepreneur Jack Dorsey said New Delhi had ordered his Bitchat messaging app removed from Apple’s App Store. These claims come from the reports cited and could not be independently checked here. Opposition parties planned a march to the Election Commission and a further mobilisation in Delhi on 10 October, and the issue was still among the most-read international stories on 16 October.
Voter lists are the foundation of any election, so how they are cleaned matters to everyone. The commission denies wrongdoing, while the opposition alleges bias. Independent verification and public data on the deletions would help settle the dispute, and I could not find such data in the coverage reviewed. For now, the argument is playing out in the streets.