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NEW DELHI: Central Delhi was sealed on Saturday, with thousands of police and \u200cparamilitaries on patrol, metro stations shut, mobile internet suspended, and markets closed to guard against a youth protest demanding India\u2019s chief election officer quit.<\/strong><\/p>\n The protest, called by the \u201cCockroach\u201d youth movement, hopes to draw thousands of demonstrators who want Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to quit over a revision of \u200bvoter lists that critics say favours Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s Bharatiya Janata Party.<\/p>\n Touted by the organisers as a protest \u200bto \u201cSave Democracy\u201d, it aims to be the biggest of the demonstrations that were launched last \u2060week after the Indian Express newspaper reported that Kumar\u2019s deputies had questioned and disagreed with him over the revision process \u200bthat saw some 130 million voter names removed.<\/p>\n Opposition parties have long alleged that the government is trying to fix voter lists \u200bto its advantage and were quick to resurrect the allegations following the report.<\/p>\n Kumar has not commented but the Election Commission and the BJP have denied the allegations.<\/p>\n NEW CHALLENGE TO MODI<\/strong><\/p>\n The BJP says Modi\u2019s popularity and India\u2019s economic growth are some key reasons for its electoral dominance and that \u200bopposition parties are misleading the country as they are unable to win elections.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, the near daily protests by opposition groups pose \u200ba new political challenge to Modi, just months after similar demonstrations forced his education minister to quit over exam paper leaks. The protesters, led by the self-named \u201cCockroach Janta Party\u201d, that began as an online satire, have said they will gather at Jantar Mantar \u2013 a site designated for protests by authorities in the heart of New Delhi \u2013 at 10 a.m. (0430 GMT).<\/p>\n FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO PROTEST, CJP SAYS<\/strong><\/p>\n Delhi Police \u200bsaid on Friday that they \u200bhad not given permission \u2060for the protest as the request did not come on time, CJP had violated undertakings given during previous protests, and that authorities had to enforce the law and maintain peace.<\/p>\n Police also \u200bsaid protesters would face the force of the law if they violated the ban.<\/p>\n CJP leaders \u200brejected the police \u2060decision and said they would go ahead with the protest as it was their fundamental right.<\/p>\n In what is seen as a bid to thwart protesters arriving in Delhi and the central business district where Jantar Mantar is located, several long-distance trains to the city \u2060were cancelled \u200bon Friday and 57 metro stations shut from Friday night.<\/p>\n Mobile internet services \u200bin a radius of 4 km (2.5 miles) of the protest area were ordered suspended from Friday night to Saturday night, ANI news agency reported citing a \u200bgovernment order.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
It also comes months \u200cbefore a \u2060series of key state elections starting in early 2027, including in the BJP-ruled most populous state of Uttar Pradesh.<\/p>\n