Delhi Police detained more than 100 people in central Delhi on Friday, October 23, after halting a march toward the headquarters of the Election Commission of India by protesters demanding the rollback of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Called by the Delhi Coordination Committee of People Against SIR, a civil society collective, the march began near Gole Dak Khana, at the junction of Kalibari Marg and Bhai Vir Singh Marg, with participants carrying the national flag and banners opposing the voter-roll revision. When police blocked the route, demonstrators sat down on the street and held what organisers called a 'People's Parliament'.

Detentions across central Delhi

Heavy security was in place across central Delhi, with Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force personnel deployed in large numbers and restrictions under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita in force. The Indian Express and TBS News reported more than 100 detentions, while police said a smaller number were detained and later released. Visuals published by Scroll.in and news agency PTI showed protesters being taken into police buses, with some demonstrators climbing onto the vehicles in an attempt to stop them from leaving.

The protesters raised slogans demanding 'Gyanesh Kumar, resign' and declaring 'Won't tolerate vote theft'. A group of independent scientists has separately written to the Election Commission and the Centre seeking an immediate rollback of the SIR, adding to the pressure on the poll body.

A widening dispute

The SIR — a nationwide house-to-house verification of voter lists that began in Bihar and has since been expanded — is presented by the Election Commission as an exercise to remove dead, duplicate and ineligible voters and ensure clean electoral rolls. BJP leaders have cited figures showing about 130 million names dropped from draft lists.

Opposition parties, civil society groups and student organisations allege that large numbers of eligible voters have been wrongly deleted and that the process could systematically disadvantage voters unsympathetic to the ruling party — a charge the BJP and the Election Commission reject. The dispute intensified after a September 23 investigation by The Indian Express reported that the poll body had bypassed legal requirements, and that the two other election commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, had objected at least 14 times over ten months to decisions issued in the Commission's name. The Commission responded that differing views are part of institutional functioning and that decisions were ultimately unanimous.

What's next

The October 23 march was the latest in a wave of demonstrations since early October. On October 6, police detained Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and several other opposition MPs as a march of 237 MPs toward the Commission's office was stopped; they were later released. With the SIR exercise continuing and the claims-and-objections window open for voters to check and restore their names, the confrontation between the poll panel and its critics — now spanning the streets, the courts and Parliament — shows no sign of abating.