Opposition Marches in Delhi Demanding Election Chief Resign Over Voter Roll Revision

Thousands of protesters marched in New Delhi on Monday toward the Supreme Court, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over a Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls that has removed more than 130 million names. Opposition parties, student groups, and supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party have staged repeated demonstrations in recent days despite heavy security deployments.

Police closed half a dozen metro stations and restricted traffic on more than 20 stretches in anticipation of the march. Thousands of officers and security personnel were deployed across central Delhi for a third consecutive day, erecting barricades. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi urged supporters to join the march and posted that authorities could bring as many police as they wanted. The march was halted roughly 600 metres from the Supreme Court, according to local reports.

Election Commission data cited by the Bharatiya Janata Party shows about 130 million names deleted, including 28 million people who had died, 63 million who had relocated, 10 million duplicates, and 30 million who could not be traced. Opposition parties and critics say the process has disproportionately affected minorities, particularly Muslims, and has removed legitimate voters through technical errors and lack of transparency. The Commission says all decisions were lawful, that wrongly deleted voters can re-enrol, and that internal disagreements among commissioners are normal.

The protests intensified after an Indian Express investigation reported that two election commissioners had raised internal concerns about Kumar's decisions on revisions, registration procedures, and digital systems. Youth-led groups that earlier forced the education minister to resign over an exam-leak scandal have joined the current campaign. Police detained hundreds of protesters over the weekend, including leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party; a court later ordered the release of some of them. Organisers have vowed to continue demonstrations through the week.

The revision began last year and has produced the largest single change to India's electoral rolls in recent memory. The BJP has accused opponents of undermining democratic processes by questioning legitimate verification. Opposition parties describe the scale of deletions as evidence of selective disenfranchisement. No independent audit of the full list of deleted names has been published.

Monday's march followed a weekend of flash protests and detentions. Students described detention as a badge of pride and said they had signed no bond preventing further action. Farmers' unions and student organisations have offered support and held parallel actions in other states. The Election Commission has maintained that the exercise removes ineligible entries and that re-enrolment remains open.

The political contest centres on whether the revision strengthens or weakens the integrity of the voter list ahead of future elections. The Commission and the ruling party point to the categories of dead, relocated, and untraceable names. Critics point to the absolute number, the reported internal objections, and the demographic distribution of deletions. The Supreme Court has not yet heard a formal petition on the matter; opposition parties said they intended to file one after the chief justice declined a meeting request.

Security measures on Monday included closed metro stations and extensive barricades. The scale of the deployment reflects the government's assessment of the protest's potential reach. Whether the demonstrations expand beyond Delhi or remain concentrated in the capital will depend on the response of state governments and the ability of organisers to sustain turnout after repeated detentions.