Indian opposition parties marched from Barakhamba Road to the Supreme Court on Monday, accusing the government of removing large numbers of names from voter lists to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party. The protest brought the voter-roll allegations to the court’s doorstep as opposition leaders and supporters continued to challenge the handling of the issue and direct criticism at Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Opposition raises voter-roll allegations
The parties allege that voters’ names have been removed from electoral rolls on a large scale. They say the removals would benefit Modi’s party, but the allegation has not been independently established in the information available about the protest. Their march from Barakhamba Road to the Supreme Court was a public demonstration against what they describe as the deletion of names from voter lists.
The dispute has become a focus of opposition activity, with MPs and their supporters also targeting Kumar over the matter. Their criticism places the chief election commissioner at the centre of the political row, alongside the government’s alleged role in the voter-roll changes.
The march signals the opposition’s effort to bring its concerns before the Supreme Court. The available information does not specify whether the parties filed a formal petition during Monday’s march or what action, if any, they asked the court to take. The central claim they have raised is that large numbers of names were removed from the rolls for the benefit of the ruling party.
Protest follows detentions of demonstrators
The Monday march came after police detained thousands of demonstrators on Saturday, according to the account of the protests. The detentions intensified the protest, adding to tensions around the voter-list allegations and the opposition’s campaign against the handling of the issue.
Opposition MPs and supporters have continued to press their objections, including by targeting Kumar. The sequence of demonstrations and detentions has made the voter-roll dispute a prominent point of confrontation between opposition parties and those they blame for the alleged removals. The available information does not give further details about the Saturday detentions, including where they took place or how long demonstrators were held.
The opposition’s claims concern the integrity of voter lists and the potential political consequences of removing names. The parties contend that the alleged deletions could advantage Modi’s party. The government’s response to the accusation, the number of names involved and the specific areas affected are not detailed in the information available about Monday’s march.
For now, the dispute is unfolding through public protest and opposition pressure on the chief election commissioner, with the Supreme Court serving as the destination for Monday’s march. The parties’ allegations remain at the centre of the row as they seek attention for claims that voter names were removed to benefit the prime minister’s party.
