Opposition parties, student groups and a youth-led movement known as the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) staged protests in India on Friday, October 2, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Police had refused permission for the gatherings, which centre on a nationwide revision of voter lists that critics say has wrongly removed millions of people from the rolls.
In New Delhi, authorities barricaded Jantar Mantar, a historic site long used for demonstrations, deployed paramilitary forces and used drones for surveillance. Internet access was reported down in nearby areas, and 11 metro stations were closed. Opposition politicians, including Saurabh Bharadwaj of the Aam Aadmi Party and Manoj Jha of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, were detained near the site. The Delhi protest was called by the left-wing All India Students' Association (AISA), Mr Jha and the Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan; police expected 3,000 to 4,000 people. In Mumbai, police also refused permission for a CJP rally at Shivaji Park. "The protest for the integrity of the vote will take place," said Abhigyan, an AISA leader, calling it a fundamental right. West Bengal politician Mamata Banerjee travelled to Delhi to join the call for Mr Kumar to step down.
The dispute concerns the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The Election Commission says the exercise removes duplicate, deceased or ineligible voters. Critics say it has stripped eligible citizens of their vote and favours Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Reports put the number of names deleted at roughly 130 million, or 13.3 crore, in states where the process is complete. The commission and the government deny any bias. A former chief election commissioner, O.P. Rawat, said it was the first time so many eligible electors had lost their vote through such a process.
Pressure grew last month after the Indian Express reported that Mr Kumar's two fellow commissioners had formally raised concerns at least 14 times over 10 months about the revisions, registration procedures and digital systems. The commission said differing views are a normal part of internal deliberation and that its actions were lawful.
On the same day, the commission told state electoral officers to compare pre-revision and current lists, and to have local officials visit the homes of those left out so that eligible people can be re-enrolled within about a month.
The CJP emerged this year from online anger over unemployment and leaked exam papers. Led by Abhijeet Dipke, it drew national attention through protests that preceded the education minister's resignation. It demands Mr Kumar's resignation and criminal charges against him, a freeze on the revised rolls and a more transparent appointment process for the chief election commissioner. It plans rallies in six more cities, ending in Delhi by the end of October. Congress-led opposition parties plan their own protests from October 6.
The confrontation matters because the Election Commission has long been regarded as one of India's most trusted institutions, and the protests are now putting it under unprecedented scrutiny. The ban on rallies on Gandhi Jayanti, a holiday celebrating the apostle of non-violence, adds symbolic weight.