Several opposition legislators were briefly arrested in New Delhi after attempting to break through police barricades during a march calling for the resignation of India’s chief election commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar.
Rahul Gandhi, a Congress party leader, was among those detained during Tuesday’s protest and was released soon afterwards, reports said.
The demonstration, which began at parliament and continued for about 1km through central New Delhi, ended at the headquarters of the Election Commission. Lawmakers waved the national flag, carried placards and chanted slogans against Mr Kumar.
The march was the latest in a series of near-daily protests that began last week, involving student groups, opposition parties and India’s “Cockroach” youth movement.
Opposition leaders accuse the Election Commission of manipulating voter registrations to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the commission was “a puppet in the hands of the government”.
BJP spokesman Sambit Patra rejected the criticism, saying Congress leaders had decided to “establish anarchy in the country and attack institutions”.
The dispute centres on a Special Intensive Revision of voter lists, which began in Bihar ahead of state elections last year and has since been extended to most states and federally administered territories.
Critics say the process demands documents that can be confusing and difficult to obtain, potentially excluding millions of eligible voters. Election Commission data indicates that voter rolls could fall by as much as 30 per cent in some regions.
The commission says the revision is intended to remove duplicate, deceased and otherwise ineligible entries while protecting the integrity of elections. It directed officials on Friday to register eligible voters who had inadvertently been left off the rolls.
