
Leaders and MPs from India's opposition parties are set to carry out a protest march to the Election Commission of India's (ECI) headquarters in New Delhi on Tuesday as they call for the sacking of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over controversial voter list changes.
Security arrangements have been beefed up around the national poll body's headquarters, media reports said Tuesday morning.
The INDIA bloc — the Congress-led alliance of opposition parties — announced the march last week as part of a broader 'Save Democracy' campaign under which its leaders have been holding demonstrations since October 2 over alleged irregularities made by the ECI.
The opposition is demanding the removal of Kumar, who is facing allegations of taking unilateral action in connection with mass culling of names from registered voter lists.
Critics say the action, called the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), has disenfranchised millions of eligible voters by removing their names from voter lists and that the changes benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The ECI and the BJP reject the allegations.
Around 130 million names have been removed from electoral rolls since the changes began last year.
The opposition march on Tuesday will begin from Parliament House.
INDIA bloc leaders are later also expected to meet President Droupadi Murmu to raise concerns over the SIR exercise, reports said.




