India voter roll protesters demand election chief quit

Thousands of protesters marched in New Delhi on Sunday demanding India's election chief resign over a nationwide revision of voter lists that opposition parties say unfairly benefits Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party.

The protest was led by opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi. Demonstrators chanted against alleged vote theft and beat drums as they marched from central New Delhi to Ramlila Maidan.

India's Election Commission says the voter-roll revision is needed to remove duplicate, deceased and fraudulent entries and to keep voter lists accurate. It says eligible voters can still apply to be included.

Opposition parties say the process is being manipulated to help the BJP. The Election Commission and the BJP deny the accusations.

The overhaul has led to more than 133 million names being removed from electoral lists, according to Indian media figures cited by opposition parties in court filings. Critics say the removals have disproportionately affected minorities, particularly Muslims.

Human Rights Watch said this week that the removal of voters was "arbitrary and deeply flawed" and called for the revision process to be scrapped.

The Cockroach Janta Party, an online youth-led protest movement, has also backed the campaign against the voter-roll revision. Several of its leaders were temporarily detained during protests last month.