India deploys police, restricts transport ahead of major opposition protest in New Delhi

The Indian capital, Delhi, is under a heavy police presence and limited transportation as thousands of demonstrators gathered for a protest on Saturday. The youth-led Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) organized the mass demonstrations to demand the resignation of India’s Chief Election Commissioner over allegations of "special intensive revision" (SIR) voter-roll irregularities.

The protests followed allegations of misconduct during a nationwide voter-roll revision, which began in 2025 and resulted in the exclusion of over 133 million names from draft rolls. Critics contend that the voter list overhaul disproportionately impacted marginalized and minority communities. The Election Commission of India (ECI) maintains that its "special intensive revision" aimed to remove duplicate and ineligible voters.

However, opposition parties and critics assert that the exercise could disenfranchise voters to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Police have authorized no rallies at Jantar Mantar, the government-designated protest site, this weekend. The Supreme Court ordered the closure of numerous metro stations but ruled against a blanket suspension of metro service.