India opposition leaders briefly arrested in protest against election chief

Protesters are demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Police have briefly arrested several opposition legislators in New Delhi for trying to breach barricades during a protest march to demand the resignation of ⁠the election chief over a controversial revision of voter lists.

Rahul Gandhi, a leader of the Congress party, was among the lawmakers detained in the Indian capital on Tuesday, but was released soon after, the AFP news agency and local media reported.

The march is the latest in a series of near-daily protests beginning last week led by student groups, opposition parties and India’s “Cockroach” youth movement.

The protesters are demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accusing the polling body he oversees of manipulating voter registrations to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

“The election commission is a puppet in the ‌hands of the government,” Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge told reporters as the march began.

“After failing multiple times, Congress leaders have decided to establish anarchy in ⁠the country and attack institutions,” BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told reporters before Tuesday’s protest.

Lawmakers carried placards, waved the national flag, and shouted slogans against Kumar during the march, roughly 1km (0.6 miles) long, to the Election Commission headquarters from parliament, through the centre of New Delhi.

India began its Special Intensive Revision of voter lists in Bihar last year before state elections. The exercise has since expanded to most states and federally administered territories.

Critics say the process requires documents that are confusing and difficult to obtain, risking the exclusion of millions of eligible voters. Election Commission data shows voter rolls could shrink by as much as 30 percent in some regions.

The Election Commission says the voter-roll revision is designed to remove duplicate, deceased or ineligible entries and maintain electoral integrity. On Friday, it directed its officials to register eligible voters inadvertently omitted from electoral rolls.