Security presence in Delhi
Security personnel carrying batons and shields surrounded the planned opposition protest site in Delhi on Sunday. Riot control vehicles also sat near the venue as authorities prepared for a rally to demand the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. This protest follows a controversial revision of voter lists that began last year. Rahul Gandhi, a leader of the Congress party, will lead the demonstration. Opposition parties, student organisations, and the youth-led Cockroach Janta party have held near-daily demonstrations since last month. The opposition expects hundreds of thousands of people to participate in the rally, which they say will challenge prime minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata party. The planned march covers a distance of nearly 1.5km, moving from central Delhi to the Ramlila Maidan. Senior police officer Rohit Rajbir told ANI that people started arriving for the rally and that police ensured proper arrangements at the venue and along the route. Delhi traffic police announced they would implement traffic regulations and diversions as required because a "large gathering" is expected at the venue.
Voter list revision controversy
The demand for Kumar’s resignation erupted after the Indian Express reported in September that two of his deputies raised internal concerns about registration procedures, digital systems, and voter list revisions. The change, which began last year, removed over 130 million names from voter lists. This total includes 28 million who died, 63 million who relocated, and 30 million who could not be traced. Opposition parties allege these deletions disproportionately affect Muslim voters and other minorities who are unlikely to support the Hindu nationalist ruling party. The Election Commission denied favouring any party and maintained that wrongly deleted voters can re-enrol. The BJP accused its rivals of trying to undermine democracy by wrongly questioning legitimate electoral processes. Analysts say the youth protests and growing opposition support form the worst crisis for Modi since he came to power in 2014, although his government remains stable and the next general election is not due until 2029.
Demonstrations in London
In London, police arrested 139 people at the largest mass demonstrations under Andy Burnham’s premiership to oppose the proscription of Palestine Action. Hundreds of people gathered outside the US embassy in Battersea, south London, while others held a vigil outside the US consulate in Edinburgh. The Metropolitan police warned participants that they face arrest as part of a robust policing operation and that anyone providing logistical support or giving instructions to others would probably commit an offence. Commander Adam Slonecki, leading the policing operation, said all those intending on coming to this event know that supporting a proscribed organisation is unlawful. Defend Our Juries, the group behind the demonstrations, estimated that around 400 people gathered. More than 4,000 arrests have been made for supporting Palestine Action since the ban came into effect, which constitutes the vast majority of terror arrests since last July. Last month, more than 160 people were arrested or reported for summons at a similar demonstration in support of Palestine Action staged outside the Labour party conference in Liverpool.
Sue Morhall, a 79-year-old retiree, held a sign expressing support for Palestine Action and said that US leaders, including Trump, need to know that people are against what is happening in Gaza. She has been arrested five or six times at previous demonstrations and believes there is a chance Burnham could rescind the proscription. The Rev Bill White, 72, also held a sign expressing support for Palestine Action and said he resigned from the Labour party after the group was proscribed as a terrorist group. He said there is no choice other than to take part in the demonstration because it is wrong to criminalise people trying to prevent genocide. A spokesperson for Defend Our Juries said the Metropolitan police response outside the US embassy only exposes how far authorities in the UK will go to appease American interests. The journalist and author Sarah Helm, the wife of the prime minister’s national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, was accused of supporting Palestine Action after posting on X: "God help us authors who support Palestine and Palestine Action." Her post came in response to news that the Irish author Sally Rooney can no longer sell her books in the UK because of her support for the group.
