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Hundreds of security personnel were deployed across central New Delhi on Tuesday, with barricades erected ahead of an opposition march demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over a controversial revision of voter lists.
Lawmakers from opposition parties, along with members of the youth-led “cockroach” movement, were expected to march from parliament to the Election Commission office at 11:00am, the main opposition Congress party said.
The protest follows a report by The Indian Express last month about differences within the Election Commission over voter lists and registration procedures, raising concerns about the poll body’s neutrality.
Television footage showed hundreds of security personnel, some carrying batons, stationed outside the barricaded Election Commission office near parliament and other key government buildings.
Congress and other opposition parties have alleged that the revised voter lists could benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Kumar has not publicly commented on the allegations, while the Election Commission and the BJP have rejected the accusations.
Authorities advised people to avoid areas around the planned protest and closed some roads as security measures.
Tuesday’s march is the latest in a series of near-daily demonstrations by student groups, political parties and the “cockroach” movement, which began last week.
India’s Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear legal arguments seeking its intervention over allegations surrounding the voter-list revision and the conduct of the election chief.
“If there are decisions against the law … we will take care of it,” the court said during the hearing after petitioners accused the Election Commission of bias.