Student organisations, opposition groups and youth-led activists took to the streets in Patna and Mumbai on Friday (16 October), demanding the resignation of India's Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, amid a row over changes to voter lists.
Calls for Kumar's resignation followed a revision of electoral rolls that critics say favours Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
More than 130 million voters were removed from the electoral rolls as part of the revision. The Election Commission has denied favouring any political party, saying voters wrongly removed from the lists can re-enrol.
The BJP has accused opposition parties of undermining democracy by challenging legitimate electoral processes.
In Patna, members and supporters of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) waved flags, chanted slogans and pressed against police barricades.
Scuffles broke out as officers pushed back demonstrators and restrained several protesters.
One protester accused the government of imposing an undeclared state of emergency and arresting political leaders, pledging to keep protesting until Kumar resigns.
The unrest follows weeks of near-daily demonstrations this month against the voter list revision.
In Mumbai, members and supporters of the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) joined the protests, waving Indian flags and chanting slogans.
Party founder Abhijeet Dipke said the demonstration was held in solidarity with two CJP leaders who were detained and jailed for five days earlier this week after protesting in an area where demonstrations were banned.
Meanwhile, the CJP and left-wing student groups called on supporters to assemble at Central Park in New Delhi’s Connaught Place on Friday evening to wave and hoist the Indian national flag.
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