India opposition plans New Delhi protest to demand election chief resign

Thousands of security personnel have been deployed across New Delhi in advance of protest calling for the election chief’s resignation.

Security personnel detain demonstrators during a protest demanding the resignation of India's Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged voter roll irregularities, in New Delhi, October 11, 2026 [Sajjad Hussain/AFP]

Authorities have closed half a dozen Delhi Metro stations and warned of traffic disruptions in New Delhi as opposition parties prepare to march to the Supreme Court to protest against a controversial revision of voter lists that has led to disruptions in the Indian capital.

Thousands of police officers and security personnel were deployed across central New Delhi on Monday for a third straight day, erecting heavy metal barricades and closing key metro rail stations in advance of a march called by Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament.

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Opposition parties and supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) youth movement have taken to the streets almost daily this month to demand Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over revisions to voter lists that critics say benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Police detained thousands of protesters over the weekend as supporters of the youth-led movement attempted to hold a protest march but were stopped by security personnel, with thousands of people detained.

The Election Commission of India (ECI), which oversees the voting process in the world’s most populous nation, has denied wrongdoing.

Opposition figures have accused authorities of trying to suppress dissent through mass detentions.

Parliamentarian John Brittas of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) alleged he was “manhandled, dragged, assaulted” by police during the demonstrations on Sunday.

“This is not merely an assault on an MP. It is an assault on democratic freedoms and the rule of law,” he said.

Police did not respond to questions about the detentions or their actions during a news conference on Sunday.

Several journalists covering the protest said they were also detained despite prominently displaying their press cards.

International NGO Reporters Without Borders said at least 16 journalists were “brutally” detained while covering the protests over the weekend.

“Covering events of public interest is not a crime. It is their job. The police’s actions against the press are unacceptable,” it said in a statement.

Gandhi, a Congress party leader, urged supporters to join Monday’s march to the Supreme Court to press for Kumar’s resignation.

“Bring as much police as you want — 10 thousand, 20 thousand, 40 thousand, go ahead. Call as many BJP-RSS goons as you need,” he said in a post on X directed at Home Minister Amit Shah.

“We are not the ones to get scared. We are not the ones to back down. This fight is not going to stop now!”

The leaders of the youth-led CJP movement, which has millions of social media followers, have also pledged to continue their protests until Kumar steps down.

The protests have become one of the most significant political challenges for Modi in his 12 years in power, bringing together opposition parties, student groups and activists angered by the voter roll revisions.

The revisions resulted in more than 133 million names being removed from electoral lists, according to media reports. Critics say minorities, particularly Muslims, were disproportionately affected.

The ECI says the move was intended to eliminate duplicate, deceased and fraudulent entries.

数千名安保人员已部署在新德里各地，以应对要求选举委员会主席辞职的抗议活动。

2026年10月11日，新德里，安全人员拘留示威者，抗议者要求印度首席选举专员贾内什·库马尔因涉嫌选民登记违规而辞职。[Sajjad Hussain/AFP]

由于反对党准备游行至最高法院，抗议备受争议的选民名单修订案，导致印度首都交通中断，当局已关闭德里地铁的六个车站，并警告新德里交通可能中断。

周一，数千名警察和安保人员连续第三天部署在新德里市中心，竖起重型金属路障，并关闭主要地铁站，以应对人民院（议会下院）反对党领袖拉胡尔·甘地号召的游行。

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民调显示，3名美国共和党人和独立人士对选举公正性缺乏信任：

本月，反对党和蟑螂人民党（CJP）青年运动的支持者几乎每天都走上街头，要求首席选举专员贾内什·库马尔因修改选民名单而辞职。批评人士称，这些修改有利于总理纳伦德拉·莫迪的印度人民党（BJP）。

周末期间，警方拘留了数千名抗议者，当时由青年领导的运动的支持者试图举行抗议游行，但被安全人员阻止，数千人被拘留。

负责监督世界人口最多国家投票过程的印度选举委员会（ECI）否认存在不当行为。

反对派人士指责当局试图通过大规模拘留来压制异议。

印度共产党（马克思主义）议员约翰·布里塔斯声称，在周日的示威活动中，他遭到警察的“粗暴对待、拖拽和殴打”。

他说：“这不仅仅是对一名议员的攻击，更是对民主自由和法治的攻击。”

周日的新闻发布会上，警方没有回应有关拘留或警方行动的问题。

多名报道抗议活动的记者表示，尽管他们醒目地展示了记者证，但仍然被拘留。

国际非政府组织“无国界记者”表示，至少有 16 名记者在周末报道抗议活动时遭到“残酷”拘留。

声明中说：“报道公众关注的事件不是犯罪，这是他们的工作。警方对媒体采取的行动是不可接受的。”

国大党领导人甘地敦促支持者参加周一前往最高法院的游行，以迫使库马尔辞职。

“你想带多少警察就带多少——1万、2万、​​4万，都行。你需要多少印度人民党-国民志愿服务团的暴徒就叫多少，”他在X论坛上发帖，矛头直指内政部长阿米特·沙阿。

“我们不会害怕。我们不会退缩。这场战斗不会就此结束！”

由年轻人领导的CJP运动拥有数百万社交媒体粉丝，该运动的领导人也承诺将继续抗议，直到库马尔下台。

这些抗议活动已成为莫迪执政 12 年来面临的最重大的政治挑战之一，它将反对党、学生团体和对选民名册修订感到愤怒的活动人士聚集在一起。

据媒体报道，此次修订导致超过1.33亿个名字从选民名单中被删除。批评人士指出，少数群体，特别是穆斯林，受到的影响尤为严重。

印度选举委员会表示，此举旨在消除重复、已故和欺诈性参选。