NEW DELHI — Indian security forces detained hundreds of demonstrators Friday as the Gen Z–led Cockroach Janta Party and allied student and opposition groups protested in New Delhi and Mumbai demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar amid a voter-roll controversy, Al Jazeera reported with Reuters.
Police and paramilitary units surrounded a barricaded site near the Jantar Mantar observatory, closed at least 11 metro stations, and invoked Section 163 restrictions on gatherings of more than five people. By mid-afternoon, reports put New Delhi arrests above 500, including former Delhi Chief Minister Atishi Marlena and Aam Aadmi Party members. “The right to protest is our fundamental right, and we want answers from the government on vote theft,” demonstrator Rishabh Singh said as police pushed him onto a bus, Reuters reported. Mumbai saw a growing crowd at Shivaji Park under heavy police patrol.
The CJP called the action after The Indian Express reported that Kumar’s two Election Commission deputies had raised concerns at least 14 times in 10 months over voter-list revisions, registration procedures and digital systems. Opposition parties brand the dispute “vote theft”; the commission denies systemic bias.
Sources: Al Jazeera with Reuters, The New York Times
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