Photos: Thousands join India’s opposition rally against election chief — SkimNews
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- Rahul Gandhi led Sunday’s march through New Delhi, where thousands demanded Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over changes to electoral rolls.
- Gyanesh Kumar has faced more than a month of demonstrations alleging that he oversaw a biased revision of electoral rolls.
- Opposition parties said more than 130 million names were removed from voter lists in a revision that disproportionately affected Muslims and other minorities who are less likely to support the BJP.
- Election Commission denied favoring any party and said voters whose names were wrongly deleted can re-register.
- BJP accused the opposition of undermining democracy by challenging legitimate procedures.
- India has its next general election scheduled for 2029.
Why it matters: The 130 million disputed removals put the Election Commission at the center of a fight over voter-list accuracy, with re-registration as its stated remedy for wrongly deleted voters. With India's next general election scheduled for 2029, the immediate consequence is a sustained contest over the legitimacy of the roll revision rather than an imminent ballot.
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