Indian opposition and youth movement protest voter roll irregularities

The two groups’ objection to the revised voter rolls has fuelled speculation that they could become a new potent political force

India’s opposition parties and the youth-led “cockroach” movement took to the streets on Friday, demanding action over alleged irregularities in voter rolls and calling for the resignation of the country’s chief election commissioner, as the combined pressure from the two groups poses a new challenge for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

The protests have brought the opposition closer to the youth movement that it has sought to engage with, according to analysts. While their convergence could boost India’s fragmented opposition, turning it into a lever to yield concessions from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would be harder, they added.

Leaders of around 20 parties in the opposition India National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, or INDIA, rallied against the Election Commission’s revised voter rolls, which critics say have potentially removed millions of eligible voters from the electoral register.

Chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has come under scrutiny after The Indian Express reported last month that he bypassed two other election commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, before the revision. The two commissioners had repeatedly raised objections to aspects of the process, including deletion and addition of voters, according to the report.