Delhi Police Detain Hundreds During Voter Roll Protest

Police invoked Section 163 of the criminal code to justify the removal of over 700 protesters from the capital’s designated demonstration site. Among those detained were former Delhi Chief Minister Atishi Marlena, Aam Aadmi Party leader Saurabh Bharadwaj, and student activist Neha Bora. The unrest stems from the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, which has seen 133 million names scrubbed from electoral rolls across India, including a 32.8% reduction in Delhi alone.

Critics argue the SIR is being used to disenfranchise marginalized communities and migrants under the guise of administrative cleanup. Internal friction within the commission surfaced last month when reports revealed that election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally objected to SIR procedures at least 14 times, citing potential illegalities. While the government maintains the process is a standard verification effort, activists like Bora are framing the struggle as a fight against systemic vote theft, vowing to return to the streets despite the threat of further arrest.