Thousands join Indian opposition protest demanding poll chief’s resignation

Among the thousands listening to him was Reena Mahto, a member of the Congress’ student wing, who said four people from her family had been deleted from the voter list due to a false record that they had moved elsewhere.

She told Reuters the family had long lived in Jagdalpur in the central state of Chhattisgarh, but “now all of a sudden we have been marked as shifted from our own house”, adding: “There should be accountability, and we are here to seek that.”

The change to voter rolls removed more than 130 million names – more than the population of Japan. 

Opposition parties allege the deletions disproportionately affected Muslim voters and members of other minorities, who are unlikely to support the BJP.

The Election Commission says the aim of the voter revision is to update voter lists to remove duplicate and ineligible voters. It has denied favouring any party and said wrongly deleted voters can re-enrol.

The BJP has accused rivals of trying to undermine democracy by questioning legitimate electoral processes.

Dinesh Singh said he was joining the protest for the sake of his children’s future.

“I am not affiliated with any political party,” he said. “I am here for a cause. I want the children to remember that we fought for their future.”