New Delhi locks down ahead of mass protest over India’s voter rolls

New Delhi is on high alert as the city braces for mass protests over alleged voter roll irregularities involving the country's Election Commission. Thousands of police and paramilitary officers have been deployed in the capital ahead of planned demonstrations scheduled for tomorrow. The Election Commission of India (ECI) is set to remove duplicate and ineligible voters from the electoral rolls—a move that opposition parties claim could disadvantage Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Opposition leaders, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, are calling for a mass rally in New Delhi, with the protest aimed at pressuring the ECI chief to resign. A "special intensive revision" of the electoral rolls has sparked widespread discontent, with critics alleging that the process could disenfranchise voters to benefit Modi’s party.

The Election Commission of India has dismissed the allegations, stating that there is no evidence of wrongdoing. Authorities have barred rallies at the designated protest site at Jantar Mantar and ordered the closure of Metro subway system entry and exit gates. The opposition's youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has emerged as a vocal critic, accusing the Delhi police of acting like a "private militia" of the BJP.

CJP activists claim that police are detaining their supporters, a claim the Delhi police have not acknowledged. Despite the heavy deployment of security forces, CJP chief Abhijeet Dipke remains determined to march to Jantar Mantar, vowing that the youth of India will not be intimidated.