Politics · 2026-11-01 · Morning briefing

Indian opposition protests mass voter roll purge in New Delhi

Police in New Delhi deployed in force on Sunday as opposition parties held a major rally demanding the resignation of India’s election chief, Gyanesh Kumar. Organisers expected hundreds of thousands to join a 1.5km march, part of near-daily demonstrations against the controversial revision of the country's voter lists.

The dispute centres on the removal of over 130 million names from voter rolls since last year. Opposition parties allege the deletions disproportionately affect Muslim and other minority voters who are unlikely to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling BJP. The Election Commission denies any bias, stating that affected voters can re-enrol, while the BJP accuses its rivals of undermining democracy.

The protests erupted after a newspaper report in September revealed that the commissioner's own deputies had raised internal concerns about the process. Of the names removed, officials say 28 million were deceased, 63 million had relocated, and 30 million were untraceable. The total number of purged voters exceeds the population of Japan.

Summary written by Cup of News with AI from the sources below. Check the originals for the full story.

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• Mass Protest Expected in New Delhi Over Modi and Voter Roll Changes
• Mass protest planned in New Delhi over voters' list changes
• Protests against Modi government’s purge of voter rolls continue despite mass repression
• Indian Farmers Join Widening Protests Over Voter Roll Revamp
• Declared dead: Indian voters fight to get back on electoral rolls

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