Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has been detained by police in New Delhi during a protest targeting the country’s election chief, as opposition parties step up their campaign against a contentious revision of voter lists.
Mr Gandhi and other opposition MPs were stopped while marching towards Jantar Mantar, the capital’s designated protest site. A live feed broadcast on the Congress party’s YouTube channel showed police placing him in a vehicle and driving him away.
Several other opposition MPs and protesters were also detained, according to the report.
Dispute over voter list revision
The opposition is demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accusing the Election Commission of manipulating voter registrations to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
The commission and the Indian Government reject the allegations. They say the Special Intensive Revision is intended to remove duplicate and ineligible entries while ensuring that eligible voters remain registered.
The review began last year in the eastern state of Bihar before local elections and has since spread to most Indian states and federally administered territories. More than 130 million names have so far been removed from the electoral rolls, with millions of people appealing against their removal.
Opposition parties and protest groups want the process halted and the names of those they say were wrongly excluded restored. They allege the changes have disproportionately removed voters who support opposition parties, while retaining or adding voters more likely to back Mr Modi’s party.
The demonstrations involve opposition parties, student groups and India’s youth “Cockroach” movement. They present a fresh political challenge to Mr Modi, months after protests by the movement led to the resignation of his education minister over exam paper leaks.
