Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi detained over election chief protest

Rahul Gandhi has been arrested several times at protests demanding the resignation of poll body chief.

Al Jazeera2026-10-07 19:40查看原文 ↗

Rahul Gandhi has been arrested several times at protests demanding the resignation of poll body chief.

India's opposition leader Rahul Gandhi scuffles with a policeman before being arrested during a protest in New Delhi [AFP]

Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has been detained for the third time in two days during a protest demanding the resignation of the election chief over a controversial revision of voter lists.

Gandhi and other opposition lawmakers were apprehended by police on Wednesday as they marched towards Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site in India’s capital, New Delhi.

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A live feed on the YouTube channel of Gandhi’s Congress Party showed police taking him into a vehicle and driving away. Authorities also detained several other opposition lawmakers and protesters.

Opposition parties, their student units and the “Cockroach” youth movement have been demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accusing the poll body he heads of benefiting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

India’s Election Commission has so far removed more than 130 million names from the voter lists, with millions appealing the removals. About 969 million people were eligible to vote in the 2024 election.

Protesters allege the changes disproportionately removed voters who support opposition parties while preserving or adding voters more likely to back Modi’s party.

Police detain Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi during a protest organised by opposition parties in New Delhi [Adnan Abidi/Reuters]

The commission and government deny the allegations. They say the revision has no political motive but is aimed at removing duplicate and ineligible entries while ensuring eligible voters remain registered.

Opposition lawmakers led by Gandhi protested on Tuesday as well, before police broke up their gathering and ‌‌ briefly detained them .

Speaking before his detention on Wednesday, Gandhi said protesters showed up unannounced after Delhi police “stopped” their gathering the day before.

“We will go to the designated protest site, sit there, and tell the country that, for us, Gyanesh Kumar is not the legitimate commissioner,” he told reporters, referring to Jantar Mantar.

“The people who have done this [vote theft] are traitors … Gyanesh Kumar will have to resign,” he ⁠⁠added.

There was no immediate comment from the police on the detentions.

The demonstrations present a new political challenge to Modi midway into his third term, just months after similar protests led by the Cockroach Janta Party ‌‌youth ‌‌movement forced the resignation of his education minister over exam paper leaks.

The “Cockroach” protests, one of the most visible signs of public dissent against Modi’s government in recent years, reflected growing anger over job scarcity, corruption and a lack of government accountability.

拉胡尔·甘地曾多次因参与要求选举委员会主席辞职的抗议活动而被捕。

印度反对党领袖拉胡尔·甘地在新德里的一次抗议活动中与一名警察发生冲突后被捕。[法新社]

印度反对党领袖拉胡尔·甘地在两天内第三次被拘留，此前他组织抗议活动，要求选举委员会主席因备受争议的选民名单修订而辞职。

周三，甘地和其他反对派议员在前往印度首都新德里的指定抗议地点简塔曼塔天文台的途中被警方逮捕。

国际奥委会称，卡塔尔和印度等七个国家正在申办2036年奥运会，名单已公布（共3份）。

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甘地所属的国大党YouTube频道直播画面显示，警方将他带上一辆车并驱离现场。当局还拘留了其他几名反对派议员和抗议者。

反对党、他们的学生组织和“蟑螂”青年运动一直要求首席选举专员贾内什·库马尔辞职，指责他领导的选举机构使总理纳伦德拉·莫迪领导的执政印度人民党受益。

印度选举委员会迄今已从选民名单中删除超过1.3亿个名字，数百万人对删除决定提出上诉。约有9.69亿人有资格参加2024年大选。

抗议者声称，这些变化不成比例地移除了支持反对党的选民，同时保留或增加了更有可能支持莫迪政党的选民。

在德里反对党组织的一次抗议活动中，警方拘留了印度反对党领袖拉胡尔·甘地。[阿德南·阿比迪/路透社]