India's voter roll purge of 130 million names fuels protests against election chief

The voter roll dispute

India's verification exercise of its nearly one billion voters has removed about 130 million names from electoral rolls, more than the population of Japan, according to Reuters. Election Commission data cited by the Bharatiya Janata Party breaks the deletions into 63 million people who had relocated and 30 million who could not be traced. The exercise, known as the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), was launched in June 2025 to identify deceased, duplicate or dubious voters. Opposition parties say Muslim voters and other minorities, who are unlikely to back Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party, are disproportionately affected, and that the deletions have shaped the outcome of some recent state elections the BJP won. The BJP and the Commission deny allegations of manipulation, and the BJP says Modi's popularity and India's economic growth explain its electoral dominance. At least seven states vote next year, including BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, the most populous and considered a bellwether state.

The Indian Express report

In late September, The Indian Express reported that Election Commission chief Gyanesh Kumar's two fellow commissioners had raised concerns internally about voter list revisions, registration procedures and digital systems. The investigation found that the two commissioners had formally objected at least 14 times to key SIR decisions taken by their chief. Opposition politicians and critics accused Kumar, a Modi government appointee, of acting at the behest of the BJP and demanded an independent inquiry into decisions taken during his tenure. The Commission says differing views are normal in internal deliberations and has denied favouring any party. Opposition accusations have continued since the Commission responded to the report.

Police block the capital

On Friday, authorities cancelled trains bound for Delhi and suspended mass transit in the city, and several would-be protesters were effectively placed under house arrest. Police have not granted permission for Saturday's rally at Jantar Mantar, a monument that has long been a protest site and is now being blockaded by security forces. The Supreme Court issued a rare emergency order on Friday afternoon urging the government to reconsider the limits and offer an alternative space for protest. Responding to an appeal from an opposition politician, the court also said the city's metro should not be shut down completely. Chief Justice Surya Kant put the court's position in these words.

You have to prevent certain things.

He added:

But that does not mean you should use a hammer to kill a fly.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not commented on this week's protests.

Protests and detentions

The Cockroach Janta Party, a Gen Z movement, has called on people from across the country to converge on central Delhi on Saturday. The movement took its name from a remark by Surya Kant, who likened unemployed youth to cockroaches. The party says about 10,000 of its supporters across the country were detained, and that police placed several party officials and workers under house arrest in Rajasthan. Co-founder Saurav Das wrote on X:

An emergency has been imposed in India.

Party spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka said police had taken Deepak Baliyan, the party's national co-in-charge, from his home in Alwar on Thursday night, and he was released several hours later. On Tuesday, police briefly detained the main opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, and other Congress leaders as they tried to march to the Election Commission office. Gandhi told reporters:

The country has been hijacked by Narendra Modi through vote theft.

A youth movement and the limits of dissent

Brijesh Jha, a Mumbai-based stand-up comic, posted a parody video on Instagram on September 29 alleging that the chief election commissioner had disenfranchised millions of voters. The video garnered 1.7 million views before Meta took it down two days later, citing "local laws" without further explanation. Neha Bora, a 29-year-old activist with more than one million Instagram followers, said after repeated detentions near the protest site:

We will march again tomorrow.

Earlier this year, youth protests over repeated scandals in college entrance exams forced the education minister to resign, a rare concession by the government after police used water cannons, tear gas and pellet guns. Police have denied permission for Saturday's rally, and security forces have been moving in to pick up anyone daring to gather at Jantar Mantar.