India voter-roll protests enter third day as crowds demand poll chief resign
Demonstrators in Mumbai and New Delhi challenge voter-roll revisions, while the election commission says it is removing ineligible entries and restoring eligible voters omitted by mistake.
Protests over voter-roll revisions continued for a third day on Sunday, with thousands marching in Mumbai and demonstrators gathering in New Delhi to demand the resignation of Election Commission of India chief Gyanesh Kumar.
The protests began on Friday. Protesters allege the revisions removed millions of eligible voters and could benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. The commission and the BJP deny the allegations; the source does not independently establish the number of voters affected or any political impact.
In Mumbai, opposition leaders Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray led the march. Police detained some demonstrators as they gathered in New Delhi, according to Reuters. Police had also detained dozens there over the previous two days; some were released, while cases were registered against others over alleged breaches of gathering restrictions.
The Election Commission says the revisions are intended to remove duplicate, deceased or ineligible entries. On Friday, it directed officials to register eligible voters who had been inadvertently omitted from electoral rolls.
An opposition alliance plans to march to the commission’s office on Tuesday. The Gen Z-led Cockroach Janta Party has announced a planned New Delhi rally for 10 October. Kumar has not publicly responded to the resignation demands, according to the report.
