India’s opposition parties march to top court as protests over voter lists escalate

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s opposition parties marched to the Supreme Court on Monday to protest a purge of voter lists they say favors Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, after police detained thousands of activists over the weekend in a sweeping crackdown in New Delhi.

Several opposition lawmakers and thousands of supporters marched through the capital and submitted a petition to the chief justice alleging irregularities in the nationwide revision of voter lists.

Protests led by the “Cockroach” youth movement have intensified since election authorities began the revision last year, removing more than 130 million voters from the lists. The protesters, including opposition parties, are demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Critics say the process is politically motivated and risks disenfranchising eligible voters. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and the Election Commission deny allegations of manipulation, saying the move is needed to remove duplicate and ineligible names.

Ahead of the march, authorities closed six metro stations in the capital on Monday and warned of traffic disruptions.

Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi of the Congress party described the growing protests as a fight to defend the constitution.

“We will not back down,” he told reporters in New Delhi.

Gandhi, scion of India’s most influential political dynasty, is seeking to turn the protests into a broader challenge to Modi.

Gandhi briefly rode through the crowd in an open bus, waving a copy of India’s Constitution. Thousands of his party supporters, student activists and other protesters followed in tow. The turnout marked a sharp contrast with the weekend, when authorities briefly detained thousands, including leaders of the “Cockroach” movement and journalists, and effectively locked down much of the capital to prevent large-scale protests.

Modi has not publicly commented on the protests, but leaders of his party have dismissed them, with some calling the activists “anarchists.”

Meanwhile, New Delhi police announced Monday that Jantar Mantar, a longtime site of mass protests in the capital, would no longer be a designated venue for rallies. Police said three replacement sites had been chosen.

The “Cockroach” movement earlier this year staged a sit-in at Jantar Mantar that lasted for weeks, forcing the resignation of Modi’s education minister in July.