Mass Protests Have Flared Up With Renewed Intensity In India

• 11.10.2026, 9:59

Citizens are demanding the resignation of the head of the Election Commission.

On October 10, in India’s capital, New Delhi, police detained more than 2,000 participants in protests against the revision of voter rolls. Authorities cordoned off part of the city, suspended mobile internet service, and closed dozens of subway stations.

This was reported by Reuters.

The protests were organized by the youth movement Cockroach, whose members demanded the resignation of the head of India’s Election Commission, Gyanish Kumar. The cause of the discontent was a large-scale revision of the voter rolls, which, according to critics, could have benefited the ruling party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

To prevent the demonstration, Indian authorities deployed thousands of police officers and members of paramilitary units. In Delhi’s central business district, mobile internet was shut down, and dozens of metro stations and markets were closed.

Law enforcement officers set up checkpoints on major roads and at the entrances to the capital. They inspected vehicles and buses, trying to prevent protesters from reaching the demonstration site.

The demonstrators had planned to gather at Jantar Mantar in the city center, but the police cordoned off the area even before the protest began. In total, more than 2,000 people were detained in Delhi, including the founder of the Cockroach movement , Abhijit Dipke . According to local media, another 400 or so protesters were detained in Mumbai.

On October 3, people took to the streets demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar due to large-scale changes to the voter rolls. During the protest, police detained dozens of young people.

The Election Commission states that the purpose of reducing the voter rolls is to remove duplicate and invalid entries, and 130 million names have been removed from the voter rolls so far.