Protests Erupt in India Over Election Reforms
Thousands of young people came together in Bengaluru, India’s technology center, on Thursday, while opposition leaders in New Delhi continued their demonstrations for a third consecutive day. The protesters are calling for the resignation of the country’s chief election commissioner amid rising tensions regarding changes to electoral rolls.
A large crowd of students and young citizens gathered at Freedom Park in Bengaluru after an appeal from the Cockroach Janata Party. They demanded answers from the election authorities and the government concerning the Special Intensive Rolls (SIR), a process that began in mid-2025 and has resulted in the removal of 130 million voters’ names.
Critics claim that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is manipulating this process to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, the Election Commission has denied these accusations, stating that the revisions are necessary to eliminate names of deceased, duplicate, or ineligible voters for more accurate electoral data.
During the rally, some voters who found themselves excluded from the updated rolls stood alongside Cockroach Janata Party leaders on stage. “These people are alive, not dead… What has died is democracy,” stated Abhijeet Dipke, the party’s founder, inciting chants of “shame, shame” from the crowd.
In New Delhi, around 200 lawmakers from various opposition parties, along with their supporters, marched to Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial at Rajghat. Indian National Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge criticized the current government, saying, “The freedom that Gandhi and others fought for is being destroyed by Modi, [Home Minister] Amit Shah, and Gyanesh Kumar.”
Reports indicate that similar protests were also occurring in cities like Hyderabad, Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir, and various locations across Odisha. In response, the BJP accused the Congress party of seeking media attention through chaotic street demonstrations.
