Thousands of demonstrators marched through the heavily fortified streets of New Delhi, demanding the resignation of India’s top election official amid alleged misconduct during a sweeping voter roll revision. Monday's demonstrations marked a sharp escalation in tensions between opposition groups and the Indian authorities.

Opposition factions and supporters of the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party movement have defied strict security measures to protest against the mass deletion of citizens from electoral rolls. According to media reports, over 133 million names have been stripped from voting lists since last year, a drastic figure considering approximately 969 million people were eligible to vote in the 2024 general elections.

Critics contend that this extensive electoral revision purportedly serves to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India has flatly denied any wrongdoing, insisting that the controversial measures were merely intended to eliminate duplicate, deceased, and fraudulent entries from the database.

Authorities responded by deploying thousands of security personnel across central Delhi for a third consecutive day, erecting heavy metal barricades and shutting down key metro stations. Public scrutiny has also intensified following widespread weekend detentions, which reportedly snared thousands of protesters, key organizers, and several journalists clearly displaying press credentials, though most were subsequently released.

Source: www.aljazeera.com