POLICE in New Delhi detained several people on Saturday as they broke up a second day of protests against changes to India's voter rolls, led by the Gen Z-backed Cockroach Janta Party and other opposition groups.
Protesters say the changes benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and are demanding the resignation of the chief election commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar.
About 100 demonstrators removed security barricades and chanted "vote thief, leave the post" and "Gyanesh Kumar, step down" before police forcibly detained some of them.
CJP takes on India's election chief: why Gen Z wants Gyanesh Kumar out
Independent MP Kapil Sibal, All India Students' Association president Neha Bora and activists Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav were among the protesters, according to a Reuters witness. Police declined to say how many people had been detained or who they were.
"First they removed people from the voters list and now they are not letting us raise our voice against this. This is not acceptable," Bora told Reuters.
Kumar has not commented on the protests or the calls for him to step down.
On Friday, police stopped protesters from gathering and bundled them into buses, while several nearby metro stations stayed shut amid tight security. Many were later released, but several were charged with allegedly breaching orders banning mass gatherings in Delhi, according to a police source.
Voters 'removed'
Critics say a nationwide voter-verification exercise launched last year has led to millions of eligible voters being struck off electoral rolls.
The Election Commission, long regarded as one of India's most trusted institutions, says the exercise is designed to remove duplicate, deceased or ineligible voters. On Friday, it directed officials to register newly eligible voters and those left off the rolls.
The protests are the latest in a series of youth-led demonstrations this year, which Reuters describes as unprecedented pressure on Modi in his 12 years in power.
