By The South Asia Times

NEW DELHI -  Opposition parties, Congress leaders and student activists marched toward India’s Supreme Court on Monday, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over a controversial revision of voter lists that has removed more than 130 million names from electoral rolls.

The demonstration marked another escalation in days of protests against the Election Commission’s voter-registration exercise, which opposition parties allege could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters and disproportionately affect supporters of the opposition and religious minorities.

Hundreds of demonstrators took part in Monday’s march, including opposition party members and left-wing student groups, according to Reuters.

The protesters sought judicial intervention over the voter-list revision after Chief Justice Surya Kant declined their request for a meeting, advising them instead to file a petition because related issues were already before the court. 

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in India’s lower house of parliament, has emerged as a prominent figure in the campaign. Opposition lawmakers have accused the election authorities of failing to ensure transparency and fairness in the revision process.

The controversy centres on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), an exercise launched to review and update electoral rolls across most Indian states and federally administered territories.

More than 130 million names have been removed from voter lists so far, Reuters reported. The deleted entries include approximately 28 million people recorded as deceased, 63 million who had moved from their registered addresses and 30 million who could not be traced.

Opposition parties argue that the scale of the deletions, along with documentation requirements and registration procedures, raises serious questions about whether eligible voters could lose their right to vote.

They have also alleged that Muslim voters and other minority communities, whose political preferences may differ from those of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), could be disproportionately affected.

The Election Commission and the government reject allegations of political bias. They say the exercise is intended to remove duplicate, deceased and ineligible entries and maintain the accuracy of electoral rolls. The commission has said people whose names were wrongly deleted can apply to be registered again.

However, critics say the process of restoring names can be difficult for people who lack older official documents or struggle to understand the requirements.

The protests have brought together established opposition parties and a youth-led movement known as the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which has organised demonstrations over electoral transparency and other public issues.

Congress’s student wing and other student groups have also participated in demonstrations in New Delhi. The campaign has spread beyond the capital, with thousands of people joining protests in Bengaluru earlier this month.

The nationwide mobilisation gained momentum after Gandhi was briefly detained during a protest in New Delhi on Oct. 6. Images of police taking him into custody circulated widely on social media, drawing further attention to the opposition’s campaign against Kumar. 

Protesters have called for Kumar’s resignation and an end to the voter-list removals. They argue that the election commission must be accountable to the public and should ensure that no eligible citizen is excluded from the democratic process.

The movement has also broadened its demands to include greater transparency in electoral procedures and public scrutiny of concerns reportedly raised within the election commission about voter registration and digital systems.

Monday’s march took place amid extensive security measures in the Indian capital. Authorities deployed security personnel in central Delhi, erected barricades and imposed traffic restrictions ahead of the demonstration.

Six metro stations were closed for 10 hours, while traffic movement was restricted along more than 20 stretches of roads, Reuters reported. Water cannons were kept on standby as police prepared for further demonstrations. 

The security measures followed a weekend crackdown in which police detained thousands of protesters as activists attempted to march through central Delhi. Authorities have also designated three new locations for demonstrations and withdrawn the status of Jantar Mantar, a traditional protest site in the capital.

The restrictions have added to opposition criticism of the government’s handling of the demonstrations. Activists say peaceful protest and public scrutiny are essential when the integrity of electoral processes is being questioned.

The protests come as Modi serves his third term as prime minister and opposition parties seek to coordinate their response to issues they say threaten electoral fairness.