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India·Elections·Protests·Democracy

Protests in India demand election chief's resignation over voter roll revision[Updated]

Sunday, 4 October 2026, 06:14 · 1 min read
Updates
7d

Three female journalists have accused Delhi Police officers of sexual harassment during Saturday's protests, and the force said the complaint has been referred to its crime branch for a "fair and impartial" inquiry. The Press Club of India demanded immediate action, while opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said the home ministry must "answer for this." Protests entered a third day on Sunday in Delhi and Mumbai, where police stopped a march toward Jantar Mantar on Ashoka Road; reports of detentions ranged from 110 officially recorded to nearly 500, and 12-15 police personnel were injured. Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and MNS chief Raj Thackeray led the Mumbai march. Separately, Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan said any process disenfranchising millions is "intrinsically arbitrary" and violates universal adult suffrage, as the Election Commission's revision has so far deleted about 130 million names from the rolls.

Sources
Original story

Police in New Delhi detained scores of demonstrators on Saturday, a day after hundreds were held on Friday, as youth-led and opposition-backed protests continued demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Protesters say a nationwide revision of electoral rolls has removed millions of eligible voters and favours Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governing party, while the Election Commission (the constitutional body that runs India's elections) says the exercise aims to remove duplicate, deceased or ineligible entries. The rallies, which have spread to cities including Mumbai and Hyderabad, are among the biggest challenges to Modi in his 12 years in power; Kumar has not publicly responded.

Sources
Dawn — Indian police detain several people in Gen Z-led protests against voter roll changes ↗︎The Hindu — Protest against CEC Gyanesh Kumar: Over 500 protesters detained; AISA, Yogendra Yadav call for citizen's march again today ↗︎The Hindu — Protesters in Hyderabad demand CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, scrapping of SIR ↗︎The Hindu — Protests held across country demanding CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s ouster, hundreds detained ↗︎
Also covered by
Al Jazeera English · The Hindu [1] [2] [3] [4]
This article was automatically compiled by AI from the sources above. It may contain inaccuracies. Always read the original sources for the full context.