Geopolitics · UB-032
India's opposition takes its voter-roll fight to the streets and the Supreme Court
Published 14-10-2026 · UB-032 · 🇮🇳 · ✓ 5 linked sources
Rahul Gandhi, 2024. Photo: Himanshu Arya Khowal / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0Rahul Gandhi has been detained repeatedly as opposition parties demand the election chief's resignation over a revision that has removed more than 130 million names from voter lists.
India's Election Commission has removed more than 130 million names from voter lists during its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, and millions of people have appealed the removals, according to AP and Reuters reporting carried by Al Jazeera.
Critics say the revision favours Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Election Commission and the BJP deny any wrongdoing, and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has not commented publicly, Reuters reported.
Police detained opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and several lawmakers for the third time in two days on 07-10-2026, as they marched towards Jantar Mantar in New Delhi to demand Kumar's resignation.
On 12-10-2026, INDIA bloc leaders including Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Akhilesh Yadav, Mamata Banerjee, Tejashwi Yadav and Supriya Sule marched to the Supreme Court and filed a joint petition against the revision, Business Today reported, citing ANI. Delhi Police have registered cases over the protests; the Free Press Journal, citing police sources, reported 25 cases since 02-10-2026, with Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra among those named.
This is a developing story.