Protesters and opposition parties demonstrated in New Delhi and Mumbai on Sunday for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, arguing a voter-roll revision has removed eligible voters.
Thousands of young protesters and opposition parties staged demonstrations in New Delhi and Mumbai on Sunday demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Reuters reported. Police detained demonstrators for a third consecutive day.
In Mumbai, opposition leaders Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray led protests calling for the electoral-roll revision to be scrapped and for Kumar to resign. In Delhi, a Reuters witness said protesters began gathering in the early evening and police started detaining some of them.
Demonstrators say a nationwide voter-roll revision launched last year has removed millions of eligible voters and allege the changes benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party.
An opposition alliance plans a march to the Election Commission office on Monday under a call to save democracy. Reuters also reported that the Gen Z Cockroach Janta Party has announced a major rally in Delhi on October 10.
The Hindu's Sunday morning digest separately reported that India and Pakistan had summoned each other's diplomats after the Border Security Force said it killed two men it described as infiltrators along the Punjab border, a distinct dispute from the voter-roll protests.