Protests have intensified across India, with daily demonstrations over the past week, following a controversial revision of electoral rolls that has removed 130 million people from the register. Demonstrators are calling for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the scrapping of the revision.
Over the weekend, Delhi experienced a lockdown with barricades, road closures, and paramilitary forces. Ahead of a protest led by the Cockroach Janta party on Saturday, authorities cancelled 245 trains to Delhi, shut 45 metro stations, closed liquor shops, cut internet services in the city centre, and placed activists under house arrest. Opposition leaders and activists, including political activist Yogendra Yadav, were detained.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata party has defended its actions, with spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad stating that Indian democracy has "thwarted attempts to incite anarchy." He added that the country would be "governed by parliament, not by the streets."
The crackdown follows similarly aggressive police action against Congress party protests led by Rahul Gandhi. Former election commissioner Ashok Lavasa described the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process as unprecedented and unfair, departing from the Election Commission of India's traditional emphasis on inclusion.
On Monday, the Keralam assembly passed a resolution seeking Kumar's removal, while opposition parties marched towards the supreme court demanding action against him. The Cockroach movement and leftist student groups have pledged to continue protesting.