NEW DELHI: Indian opposition parties on Thursday continued protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of favouring Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) through a controversial revision of voter lists and demanding his resignation.
The opposition groups demonstrated for a third day, protesting police action against Congress party leaders.
Opposition parties, their student units, and the “Cockroach” youth movement have been holding almost daily demonstrations seeking Kumar’s resignation.
They have accused Prime Minister Modi’s ruling BJP party of using a revision of voter lists to fix them in its favour, in collusion with its appointees, including Kumar.
Kumar has not commented, but the Election Commission and the BJP have denied the allegations.
The protests present a new political challenge to Modi midway into his third term, just months after similar demonstrations led by the self-named Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) forced the resignation of his education minister over exam paper leaks.
Visuals from news agency ANI showed hundreds of Congress supporters staging a protest march on Thursday in the southern state of Telangana, while the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal organised a similar demonstration in the eastern state of Bihar.
Prayagraj
Congress workers in prayagraj took out march against Modi, Shah & Gyanesh Kumar. https://t.co/9s0Hpp29k8
— Arpit Srivastava (@congressispeaks) October 8, 2026
Hundreds of supporters of the CJP youth movement also protested in tech hub Bengaluru, many of them holding posters that said, “Every name counts, Every vote matters” and “Stop the Murder of Democracy”.
“I think voting right is the most basic point of democracy… People who actually want to vote, who actually care about the future of India, they are just being (denied) voting rights,” Khushi Shrivastava, a 22-year-old architecture student who attended the Bengaluru protest, told Reuters.
On Wednesday, Congress accused police of using “brute force” to briefly detain party leader Rahul Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Vadra, and other lawmakers as they tried to reach the Jantar Mantar protest site in New Delhi.
BJP Mahila Morcha on the streets protesting against ASSAULT ON FEMALE CONSTABLE by RAHUL GANDHI and PRIYANKA GANDHI VADRA https://t.co/oF9VrBicFX
— India Strikes YT 🇮🇳 (@IndiaStrikes_) October 8, 2026
Delhi Police said the allegations were being used to “defame” the force.
“We are on the ground and, as officers, we also ensure that every kind of legal duty is followed and no illegal, unnecessary actions take place,” senior police officer Shrishti Pandey told ANI.
BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said the allegations were “being levelled by an irresponsible, anarchist opposition”. The claims had “no base, not an iota of evidence”, he told reporters at a media briefing on Thursday.
