Police in New Delhi detained protesters demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over a voter-roll exercise that critics say has removed eligible voters.
Indian police detained several people in New Delhi on Saturday, breaking up a second day of protests against changes to voter rolls, Reuters reported. Demonstrators backed by the Gen Z-led Cockroach Janta Party and other opposition groups want Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign.
About 100 demonstrators removed security barricades and chanted for Kumar to step down before police detained some of them. A Reuters witness named independent MP Kapil Sibal, All India Students' Association president Neha Bora, and activists Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav among those present. Police declined to comment on how many people were detained.
The Hindu reported that Delhi Police detained around 150 protesters on 3 October, including Bora, Yadav and Bhushan, as they marched from Patel Chowk toward Jantar Mantar. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi launched a digital platform called Satyagraha as the protests continued.
Critics say a nationwide verification exercise launched last year has removed millions of eligible voters. The Election Commission says the exercise is meant to remove duplicate, deceased or ineligible entries, and on Friday directed officials to register newly eligible voters and people omitted from the rolls. Kumar has not commented on the resignation demands, Reuters reported.
Police had also stopped a gathering on Friday, put some protesters on buses and later charged several with allegedly violating orders banning mass gatherings, a police source told Reuters. Several nearby metro stations were shut.
People Sentiments Negative
- Neha Bora told Reuters it was unacceptable that people had been removed from voter lists and then blocked from protesting.
- Protesters chanted for Gyanesh Kumar to step down.
- The Election Commission says the roll exercise is intended to remove duplicate, deceased or ineligible voters.