Delhi police detain protesters over India’s voter-roll revision

Indian police detained protesters in New Delhi on Saturday during a demonstration against a nationwide revision of voter rolls, a process that has become a flashpoint ahead of upcoming state elections. The reported number of detentions differs by outlet: the Associated Press said thousands were detained, while Reuters reported hundreds. Reuters also described restrictions in central Delhi, including a temporary internet suspension and closures affecting metro stations and markets. The protest was aimed at Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The Election Commission says the revision is intended to update voter lists by removing duplicate, deceased or migrated entries and ensuring eligible voters are included. Reuters reported that draft-roll data showed roughly 130 million entries removed in the process; the commission’s cited categories included people who had moved, could not be traced or had died. It says voters wrongly left off the draft list can apply to be added again. The BJP and the commission reject allegations that the exercise is designed to manipulate election results. The scale of the removals makes the practical safeguards consequential: an accurate roll can exclude duplicate or obsolete entries, but eligible voters must also have a clear way to challenge omissions before polling. The figures alone do not establish how many eligible voters, if any, were wrongly removed. Saturday’s competing detention counts likewise remain attributed reports rather than a single confirmed total. Sources: [Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/030b35e23279c75394b7654233c99d6b) · [Reuters via ThePrint](https://theprint.in/world/india-detains-hundreds-locks-down-delhi-to-foil-election-chief-protest/3067730/) · [Election Commission of India](https://gondia.gov.in/en/eci-sir-2026/) ~india ~worldnews