Security deployed in Delhi ahead of opposition rally over voter list changes

Security personnel equipped with shields and batons surrounded a planned opposition rally venue in Delhi on Sunday, November 1, as authorities prepared for a demonstration against changes to India's voter lists. Riot control vehicles were also stationed outside the site ahead of the protest calling for chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is due to lead the march and rally. Opposition organisers say they anticipate hundreds of thousands of participants and describe the mobilisation as a major challenge to prime minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata party. The planned march covers nearly 1.5km from central Delhi to Ramlila Maidan, the ground designated for the rally.

Footage from news agency ANI showed dozens of security personnel outside the venue. Announcements asked people to help keep traffic moving and cooperate with police. Delhi traffic police warned that a large crowd was expected and said restrictions and diversions would be introduced as needed. Senior police officer Rohit Rajbir told ANI that participants had begun arriving and that arrangements covered both the venue and the march route.

The rally follows demonstrations held almost daily since October by opposition parties, student organisations and the youth-led Cockroach Janta party. Their demand for Kumar's departure centres on a revision of voter lists that critics allege benefits the BJP. The dispute has drawn sustained protests over the administration of the electoral process.

Calls for Kumar to step down followed a September report by the Indian Express newspaper. It said his two deputies had internally raised several concerns relating to voter list revisions, voter registration procedures and digital systems. The revision began last year and removed more than 130 million names, including 28 million people who had died, 63 million who had moved and 30 million who could not be located.

Opposition parties allege that Muslim voters and other minorities, whom they regard as unlikely to back the Hindu nationalist ruling party, have been disproportionately affected by the deletions. Both the Election Commission and the BJP reject those allegations.

The commission has denied showing preference to any political party and says voters whose names were incorrectly removed can register again. The BJP, meanwhile, accuses its opponents of undermining democracy by making unfounded challenges to legitimate electoral procedures.

Analysts describe the youth demonstrations and increasing support for the opposition as Modi's most serious crisis since he took office in 2014. His government nevertheless remains stable, and India's next general election is scheduled for 2029.