Hundreds of protesters were detained in New Delhi on Friday as a youth-led movement and opposition groups demonstrated against India's chief election commissioner, demanding his resignation over a controversial revision of the country's voter rolls.
The protests, led in part by the Cockroach Janata Party, drew student groups, civil society organizations and opposition politicians in several cities, including New Delhi and Mumbai.
Authorities imposed restrictions on gatherings in the capital and deployed large numbers of police and paramilitary personnel around Jantar Mantar, a traditional protest site.
Delhi police detained more than 700 people, including Aam Aadmi Party leaders and student activists, according to Indian media reports.
Protesters were taken away in buses after attempting to reach the restricted area, while several metro stations around Jantar Mantar were closed as authorities sought to prevent crowds from gathering.
The demonstrations center on the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, of electoral rolls.
The nationwide exercise began in 2025 and has involved extensive verification of voter eligibility.
More than 130 million names have been removed from draft electoral rolls during the process, according to figures cited by Amnesty International and other reports, although the Election Commission says the exercise is intended to remove deceased, duplicate and otherwise ineligible voters rather than disenfranchise eligible citizens.
Opposition parties and activists argue that the scale of the revisions creates a risk that eligible voters could be wrongly excluded.
They have also questioned the transparency of the process and whether it could disproportionately affect poorer and marginalized communities.
The dispute intensified after The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised concerns on multiple occasions over decisions involving voter additions and deletions, registration procedures and electoral technology.
The report said the disagreements had occurred over a 10-month period.
The Election Commission has rejected allegations of political manipulation and maintained that its actions have been carried out according to law and its established instructions. The commission says the revision is part of its responsibility to maintain accurate electoral rolls.
In Mumbai, hundreds of CJP supporters gathered at Shivaji Park carrying Indian flags and placards and chanting for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The movement's founder, Abhijeet Dipke, accused authorities of effectively deciding who gets to remain on the voter rolls.
"Voters are supposed to choose a government, now the government is choosing voters," Dipke said.
The CJP has emerged as a prominent youth movement after beginning as an online satirical campaign. Its name refers to the term "cockroaches," which was used in remarks that sparked an earlier youth-led campaign.
The group later organized large demonstrations over alleged examination-paper leaks, protests that preceded the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in July.
The latest protests have broadened the movement's focus to electoral rights and governance.
The CJP has called for demonstrations in other Indian cities and said it intends to continue its campaign until Kumar resigns. Opposition parties are also organizing separate demonstrations over the voter-roll controversy.
Friday's crackdown in New Delhi drew criticism from Amnesty International, which said the right to peaceful protest does not depend on government approval and called for authorities to ensure that detentions have a lawful basis.
The organization also raised concerns about restrictions on communications and public transport during the demonstrations.
The choice of Friday for the protests was also symbolic. Oct. 2 is Gandhi Jayanti, marking the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, whose campaign for India's independence emphasized nonviolent resistance.
The protests come as political opposition to the voter-roll revision grows, putting renewed scrutiny on India's Election Commission and its role in maintaining the country's electoral register.
The commission has defended the revision as a legal verification exercise, while protesters and opposition parties say the process could deprive eligible citizens of their right to vote.
The dispute is likely to remain a major political issue as the voter-verification process continues across India.
