Thousands of demonstrators gathered in New Delhi on Sunday as India’s opposition parties renewed calls for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The rally marked a fresh display of public dissent against the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Organized by the opposition bloc INDIA and backed by the youth-led “Cockroach” movement, the protest drew crowds carrying musical instruments and flags while chanting slogans against central government policies.
Led by Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, the participants demanded the protection of India’s democracy and the immediate removal of Kumar over a contentious ongoing voter roll revision.
The demonstration took place at Ramlila Maidan, a sprawling public square in New Delhi, after authorities withdrew the historic Jantar Mantar observatory from the list of officially approved protest sites last month. Security forces deployed thousands of police officers, paramilitary personnel, and extensive surveillance tech—including over 200 CCTV cameras, drones, and body-worn cameras—along the route and at the venue.
Critics argue that the ongoing voter list review, which has removed more than 130 million names since last year, is politically motivated and threatens to disenfranchise millions, disproportionately affecting minority communities, particularly Muslims. While Prime Minister Modi has not publicly commented on the protests, the Election Commission and his administration maintain that the revision is designed solely to eliminate duplicate and ineligible entries.
Human Rights Watch criticized the process on Thursday, stating that the accusations raise serious doubts about the credibility of upcoming ballots.
”The authorities should immediately scrap the voter roll revision process that has denied India’s most marginalized people their right to vote and other government services,” said Elaine Pearson, the group’s Asia director, in a statement.
Ruling party leaders have dismissed the demonstrators as “anarchists” and suggested, without presenting evidence, that foreign powers back the movement.
The pressure campaign follows earlier youth-led demonstrations in July that forced the rare resignation of Modi’s education minister—a major milestone for a digital satirical movement that emerged earlier this summer.