Indian police briefly detained opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and other lawmakers on Tuesday during a protest march in New Delhi demanding the resignation of election chief Gyanesh Kumar. The protest followed a large-scale revision of voter lists that critics say has disproportionately affected marginalized and minority communities, especially Muslims, by deleting 130 million names since 2025.
Opposition politicians accused the election commission of acting at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and alleged electoral manipulation. After being stopped by police, Gandhi and his lawmaker sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra camped inside public radio offices, where Gandhi told reporters that the country had been hijacked through vote theft.
The Election Commission of India has rejected all allegations of wrongdoing, stating that the revision process aims to ensure accuracy, identify fraudulently registered voters, and prevent foreign illegal immigrants from voting. BJP spokesman Sambit Patra defended the drive on Tuesday, accusing opposition parties of deliberately attacking India's democracy and constitutional institutions.
The current protests were reignited by a report last month in The Indian Express revealing that two of the commission's three members formally objected at least 14 times to key decisions linked to the revision. Meanwhile, India's Supreme Court ordered the government and election body on Monday to explain decisions related to the exercise, with another hearing scheduled for next week.
Amid ongoing demonstrations, the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party and major left-wing student groups have called for mass mobilization in the capital on Saturday. Election chief Gyanesh Kumar has not commented publicly on the demands for his resignation.