Thousands of Indians marched through the streets of New Delhi to demand the resignation of India’s Chief Election Commissioner over revisions to the electoral rolls, which opposition parties alleged were biased in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party.
Rahul Gandhi, a leader of the Indian National Congress, led the demonstration yesterday, Sunday. It was the latest in more than a month of protests accusing Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of unfairly managing and conducting updates to the electoral rolls.
Opposition leaders said the removal of more than 130 million names from the electoral rolls had a severe and disproportionate impact on Muslim communities and other ethnic and religious minorities, groups that tend to give less support to Modi’s party.
India’s next general parliamentary election is expected in 2029, while electoral rolls remain a contentious issue in national politics. Opposition parties have repeatedly alleged that digital technology or automated data updates used to remove duplicate registrations or the names of deceased voters contain gaps that unfairly deprive poor people and minorities lacking official documents of their right to vote. By Rithy
