India's opposition parties protest purge of voter roll : NPR

Key Points:

• Opposition parties in India marched to the Supreme Court to protest a revision of voter lists that they claim favors Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, following a weekend crackdown where thousands of activists were detained in New Delhi.
• The nationwide voter list revision has removed over 130 million names, prompting allegations of political manipulation and demands for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar; the Election Commission denies these claims, citing the need to eliminate duplicates and ineligible voters.
• Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi framed the protests as a constitutional fight, rallying thousands of supporters despite recent police actions including metro station closures and restrictions on protest venues like Jantar Mantar.
• Modi's party has dismissed the protests, labeling activists as "anarchists," while police have announced that Jantar Mantar will no longer serve as a designated protest site, replacing it with three alternative locations.
• The "Cockroach" youth movement, central to the protests, previously forced the resignation of Modi's education minister after a prolonged sit-in at Jantar Mantar earlier this year.