Indian authorities tightened security in Delhi on Sunday ahead of a planned opposition march and rally demanding the resignation of the country’s chief election commissioner over a controversial revision of voter lists.
Security personnel carrying batons and shields, accompanied by riot control vehicles, surrounded the site of the planned protest, Reuters reported. Authorities warned of traffic diversions ahead of the march and rally, which opposition parties said would be led by Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi.
The opposition says it expects hundreds of thousands of people to take part in what it describes as a major challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Opposition parties, student organisations and youth-led groups have held near-daily demonstrations since last month demanding that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar step down.
The protests centre on a voter-list revision that critics say favours the BJP. The Election Commission has denied favouring any party and has said that voters wrongly deleted from the lists can re-enrol. The BJP, for its part, has accused its rivals of trying to undermine democracy by wrongly questioning legitimate electoral processes.
March route and police arrangements
Opposition parties announced a march of nearly 1.5 kilometres from Central Delhi to Ramlila Maidan, the ground designated for the protest rally. Visuals from news agency ANI showed riot control vehicles and dozens of security personnel outside the rally venue, where announcements urged people to ensure smooth traffic movement and cooperate with police officials.
Delhi Traffic Police said a large gathering was expected at the venue and that traffic regulations and diversions would be implemented as required. Senior police officer Rohit Rajbir told ANI that people had started arriving to take part in the rally, and that arrangements had been made both at the venue and along the route of the march.
Background to the dispute
The protests demanding Kumar’s resignation erupted after The Indian Express newspaper reported in September that his two deputies had raised several concerns internally about voter-list revisions, registration procedures and digital systems. The revision, which began last year, removed more than 130 million names from voter lists, including 28 million people who had died, 63 million who had relocated and 30 million who could not be traced, according to the report.
Opposition parties allege that the deletions disproportionately affect Muslim voters and other minorities who are unlikely to support the Hindu nationalist ruling party. Those allegations are rejected by the poll panel and the BJP. Analysts quoted in the coverage described the youth protests and growing support for the opposition as the worst crisis for Modi since he came to power in 2014, while noting that his government remains stable and the next general election is not due until 2029.
