India deploys 20,000 police for election protest, PTI says

More than 20,000 police and paramilitary officers have been deployed in New Delhi before planned protests over alleged voter-roll irregularities, the Press Trust of India reported Friday.

The demonstrations are planned for Saturday to demand that Election Commission of India chief Gyanesh Kumar step down. Protesters have criticised the commission's “special intensive revision” of electoral rolls, which the commission says is meant to remove duplicate and ineligible voters.

Opposition parties and critics allege the exercise could disenfranchise voters and benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party. The Election Commission has rejected allegations of wrongdoing.

Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition in parliament, and other opposition leaders met President Droupadi Murmu late Friday and submitted a memorandum of complaints against Kumar over alleged voter theft. Gandhi told reporters that the president had sought proof and that the opposition would share it.

AFP reporters saw yellow metal barricades blocking key roads in central Delhi and restricting access to Jantar Mantar, the government-designated protest site. Police have not authorised rallies there.

Police ordered restrictions on the metro system from Friday evening, citing proposed protests and the likelihood of unruly crowd movement. The Supreme Court said there should be no complete shutdown of metro services and said train cancellations and road closures should be reviewed.

A government order said mobile internet services would also be suspended in central Delhi from Friday night.

The youth-led Cockroach Janta Party movement has called for a “mass mobilisation” in New Delhi and an intended march to Jantar Mantar. The movement said its volunteers and supporters were being detained by police before the protest; police did not respond to those allegations in the supplied account.