Indian police detain several people in Gen Z-led protests against voter roll changes

Independent Member of Parliament Kapil Sibal, ​left-wing All India Students' Association President Neha Bora and political activists Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav were among the protesters,. The police declined comment on the number ​and identity of those detained.

"First they removed people from the voters list ​and now they are not letting us raise our voice against this. This is not acceptable," ‌Bora ⁠told. Reuters.

The chief of the Election Commission, Kumar, has not commented on the protests and the demands to step down. Read More:India's Cockroach Janta Party, student groups to protest, demand poll chief's resignation. On Friday, police stopped a group of protesters from gathering, bundling them into buses.

Several nearby metro stations remained shut ​amid tight security. Though police ​released many of ⁠those detained on Friday, they charged several of them with allegedly violating orders banning mass gatherings in Delhi, according ​to a police source.

Critics say a nationwide voter-verification exercise launched ​last year ⁠has led to millions of eligible voters being removed from electoral rolls. The commission, long regarded as one of the country's most trusted institutions, says the exercise is ⁠intended to ​remove duplicate, deceased or ineligible voters.

On Friday, the ​commission directed officials to register newly eligible voters and those omitted from electoral rolls.