India's opposition parties march to top court as protests over voter lists escalate — SkimNews
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- Opposition parties marched to the Supreme Court on Monday, submitting a petition to the chief justice alleging irregularities in the nationwide voter list revision that has removed more than 130 million names since it began last year.
- Rahul Gandhi of the Congress party rode through the crowd in an open bus waving a copy of India's Constitution, telling reporters "We will not back down" and framing the protests as a fight to defend the constitution against Modi's government.
- Police detained thousands of activists over the weekend in New Delhi, including leaders of the "Cockroach" youth movement and journalists, effectively locking down much of the capital to prevent large-scale protests.
- Protesters are demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, calling the revision politically motivated and accusing it of risking disenfranchisement of eligible voters; the BJP and Election Commission deny manipulation, saying the purge targets duplicate and ineligible names.
- New Delhi police announced Monday that Jantar Mantar, a historic mass-protest site, would no longer be a designated venue for rallies, selecting three replacement sites — a shift that comes after the "Cockroach" movement's weeks-long sit-in there forced the resignation of Modi's education minister in July.
- Modi has not publicly commented on the protests, but BJP leaders have dismissed the activists as "anarchists"; authorities preemptively closed six metro stations and warned of traffic disruptions ahead of Monday's march.
Why it matters: The removal of 130 million voters — a number larger than Japan's population — has become the flashpoint for the largest opposition mobilization against Modi's government in years. With Jantar Mantar now off-limits as a protest venue and activists detained en masse, institutional space for dissent is narrowing even as opposition leaders escalate to the Supreme Court.
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