NEW DELHI: Indian police detained several opposition lawmakers in the capital New Delhi on Tuesday for trying to breach barricades during a protest march to demand the resignation of the election chief over a controversial revision of voter lists.

The march presents a fresh political challenge to Prime Minister Nare­ndra Modi midway into his third term, just months after similar protests forced the resignation of his education minister over exam paper leaks.

Parties opposing Modi’s government along with members of the popular ‘cockroach’ youth movement protested against Chief Election Comm­iss­ioner Gyanesh Kumar after the Indian Express newspaper reported divisions in the poll body last month.

The reported differences over the lists and voter registration procedures stoked concern about the neutrality of the commission, led by a Modi appointee.

“The election commission is a puppet in the hands of the government,” Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge told reporters as the march began. “We are fighting to save our democracy.”

Lawmakers carried placards, waved the national flag, and shouted slogans against Kumar during the march, roughly 1km-long, or less than a mile, to the Election Commission headquarters from parliament, through the centre of Delhi.

Some carried placards calling Kumar a traitor and accused the BJP of snatching away the right to vote, while they sat on the road outside the panel’s office, demanding to meet him.

Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, his sister Priyanka and several more stood on police barricades there, waving the national flag and calling for Kumar to resign.

Hundreds of security personnel, some wearing riot gear and carrying batons, tried to stop Gandhi and others from entering the election commission.

“After failing multiple times, Congress leaders have decided to establish anarchy in the country and attack institutions,” BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told reporters before Tuesday’s protest.

TV channels said the Gandhi siblings were among those briefly detained before being released. The duo sought entry through the grounds of the state radio office next door, where they sat in protest under a tree after the route was blocked, the channels said.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2026