Opposition protests intensify as Supreme Court examines complaints against India’s election chief

Opposition protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar intensified across India as the Supreme Court examined petitions alleging unilateral decision-making during a large-scale revision of voter rolls.

The court issued notice to the Election Commission of India and sought its response to allegations concerning Kumar’s handling of the Special Intensive Revision. The Indian Express previously reported that fellow election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally objected 14 times in 10 months to decisions connected with the exercise, including some allegedly made without their knowledge.

In New Delhi, police stopped INDIA bloc leaders from reaching Jantar Mantar on Wednesday and detained Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other senior figures. The bloc planned a third consecutive day of demonstrations Thursday, while Congress called protests in state, district and block units. Separate actions took place elsewhere, including a Youth Congress blockade of an Income Tax office in Kollam and a planned “people’s tribunal” in Bengaluru.

A Delhi court on Monday granted bail to 17 students and freelance journalists arrested during a related protest. Police accused them of unlawful assembly, damaging a bus and assaulting personnel; protesters said they were demanding action over a woman journalist’s allegation that a police officer sexually harassed her during an earlier demonstration. An inquiry into that allegation is pending.

Authorities strengthened security at Kumar’s residence and the Election Commission office without changing his existing Z+ security category. The Hindu reported that thousands of central-force personnel were also being mobilised in Delhi ahead of an October 10 protest.