NEW DELHI — India’s opposition parties on Sunday renewed calls for the resignation of the nation’s election chief, staging fresh protests that underscore heightened public dissent against the Modi administration.
The demonstration, organized by the INDIA opposition bloc, drew thousands of participants, some carrying musical instruments and waving assorted flags, as they chanted slogans denouncing the central government’s policies. Several alliance parties, formed in 2023 to challenge Modi, mobilized supporters from multiple states, particularly after a recent police crackdown on protesters in New Delhi.
Led by Rahul Gandhi, head of the principal opposition Congress party, and supported by the youth ‘Cockroach’ movement, protesters advocated for the protection of India’s democracy and demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, citing a disputed voter roll revision.
Protesters converged at Ramlila Maidan, a expansive public square in New Delhi, after authorities removed Jantar Mantar from the official list of permitted demonstration sites last month. The historic observatory has long served as the capital’s primary protest venue.
Authorities stationed thousands of police and paramilitary forces at the venue and along the protest route, implementing extensive surveillance including over 200 CCTV cameras, drones, and body-worn cameras, as officials confirmed.
The ongoing revision of voter lists has excluded more than 130 million names since last year. Critics argue the process is politically motivated, risks disenfranchising millions more, and disproportionately impacts minorities, particularly Muslim communities.
The Election Commission and the Modi administration reject the allegations, stating the revision aims solely to eliminate duplicate and ineligible entries.
Human Rights Watch warned on Thursday that the accusations surrounding the voter roll revision raise serious concerns regarding the fairness of upcoming Indian elections.
‘The authorities should immediately scrap the voter roll revision process that has denied India’s most marginalized people their right to vote and access to other government services,’ stated Elaine Pearson, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, in a public statement.
The call for Kumar’s resignation has become a sustained rallying point for opposition parties and supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party, who seek to challenge Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
In July, protests spearheaded by the youth ‘cockroach’ movement forced the resignation of Modi’s education minister, marking a rare setback for the prime minister, who has held power for over a decade. The movement originated as an online satirical campaign this summer, following the chief justice’s comparison of unemployed young people to parasites.
