Delhi braces for more protests against election chief amid crackdown

What the report says

India’s opposition has stepped up street protests in New Delhi against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi joining demonstrations and urging his supporters to keep pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. The protests, reported by Al Jazeera on October 12, 2026, come as opposition parties and student groups accuse the Election Commission of bias over voter-roll revisions and its handling of election oversight. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party denies those allegations.

Al Jazeera said the center of the unrest has been central New Delhi, where flash marches and short-notice rallies have disrupted traffic and drawn a heavy police response. The report described daily detentions of students, accusations of rough treatment by security forces, and efforts by protesters to evade arrest by announcing locations only shortly before gathering.

The article said the youth-led “Cockroach” movement and left-wing student organizations have joined the campaign, alongside Congress and other opposition parties. It also noted that the Election Commission has removed more than 130 million names from voter lists since revisions began in June last year, a figure critics say could disproportionately affect minorities and other vulnerable groups. Analysts quoted by Al Jazeera said the latest protests appear broader and more politically confrontational than earlier summer demonstrations, raising pressure on the Modi government while also testing the limits of public dissent in the capital.