Story summary
Delhi authorities shut six metro stations and warned of traffic disruptions on Monday ahead of a planned protest march by opposition parties against a controversial voter list revision. The revision, which began last year, removed over 130 million names, more than the population of Japan, including 30 million who could not be traced and 63 million relocated voters. Critics allege that Muslim voters and other minorities are disproportionately affected, though both the Election Commission and the ruling BJP deny this claim.
The opposition aims to march to the Supreme Court at 08:00 GMT with a memorandum demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation over alleged vote fraud. However, Chief Justice Surya Kant declined a meeting request from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, advising them to address issues legally since cases related to voter list revisions are already pending before the court.
Despite restrictions imposed by authorities to prevent protesters from reaching their destination, thousands of security forces were deployed in Delhi, leading to several arrests over the weekend.
Written for “India Election Protest March” on 2026-10-12,
grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.
- Published
India's opposition parties are set to march to the Supreme Court in Delhi to demand the resignation of the election chief over alleged voter fraud.
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parties → publish → fraud
This will be the latest in a series of demonstrations in Delhi, with thousands of security forces deployed and roads barricaded in the capital.
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roads → deploy → capital
Attempts to hold a protest by the Cockroach Janata Party pressure group over the weekend led to thousands of demonstrators being detained.
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thousands → hold → demonstrators
Opposition parties allege that under Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, India's voter rolls are being manipulated to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
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rolls → allege → Party
Both the Election Commission and the BJP have rejected the charge.
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Commission → reject → charge
The opposition lawmakers want to submit a memorandum to Chief Justice Surya Kant, but he has told reporters he declined the meeting citing "certain reasons".
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he → want → reasons
He did not provide the reasons, but media reports citing the letter have said that he pointed out that some of the issues the opposition wanted to raise with him were also pending before the court.
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opposition → provide → court
The BBC has not seen the letter.
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BBC → see → letter
"Every Indian citizen has the right to approach the court, and we will hear their concerns and grant whatever is due under the law," he told reporters.
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he → have → reporters
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, meanwhile, has called "all opposition parties, civil society groups [and] all those who believe in democracy" to join Monday's march.
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who → call → march
Authorities in Delhi have announced heavy restrictions on traffic and on entry and exit at some key metro stations.
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Authorities → announce → stations
Over the past week, top opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, have been briefly detained several times while leading protests in central Delhi.
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leaders → include → Delhi
On Sunday, the CJP - which is not a registered political party - said it would continue protesting until Kumar stepped down.
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Kumar → register → Sunday
The CJP, which successfully led a protest over the summer that culminated in India's federal education minister's resignation, had called for a march on Saturday to Jantar Mantar - the best-known protest site in Delhi where the last set of sit-in demonstrations had also happened.
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set → lead → demonstrations
But authorities in Delhi imposed overarching restrictions that made it almost impossible for protesters to travel and reach Jantar Mantar - trains were cancelled, dozens of metro stations were shut down and tens of thousands of police and paramilitary personnel were on the roads to detain protesters.
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thousands → impose → protesters
The CJP leaders - founder Abhijeet Dipke and co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka - were dramatically detained from a plane as they landed in Delhi to join the protest.
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they → detain → protest
They were only released a day later - while Dipke has returned home to attend his grandmother's funeral, Das and Ranka held a press conference where they said the protests would continue.
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protests → release → conference
Both leaders, however, did not join the protests on Sunday but have said they will seek a new protest date from the police.
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they → join → police
Over the weekend, the police detained and released thousands of people, including several journalists.
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police → detain → journalists
Some videos and photos from the protest show police dragging people, including women, by force and pushing them into buses.
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police → show → buses
The BBC also captured visuals, external of a policeman slapping a detained protester inside a bus.
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policeman → capture → bus
The Delhi Police did not respond to questions about the use of violence against protesters.
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Police → respond → protesters
In a statement, Reporters Without Borders condemned the detention of at least 16 Indian journalists.
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Reporters → condemn → journalists
"Covering events of public interest is not a crime.
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Covering → cover → interest
The police's actions against the press are unacceptable," it said.
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it → say → press
Congress leader Gandhi said that young Indians who had come to peacefully protest with "love in their hearts, not hatred or anger" had been beaten up.
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who → say → hearts
BJP President Nitin Nabin accused opposition parties and the CJP of trying to destabilise India "at the behest of foreign forces" without elaborating on who the forces were.
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forces → accuse → forces
The Aporia
