India voter-roll revision removes about 130 million names

India’s voter-roll revision has removed about 130 million names, prompting protests and demands that Election Commission chief Gyanesh Kumar resign. Opposition parties allege the deletions have unfairly benefited the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and disproportionately affected Muslims and other minorities. The party and the Election Commission deny manipulation or discrimination. The revision began last year as an effort to verify electoral rolls covering nearly one billion voters. Election Commission data cited by the BJP attributes the deletions to 28 million people who had died, 63 million who had relocated, 10 million duplicate entries and 30 million people officials could not trace. The figures have been reported from the same Commission data, rather than independently audited records. The controversy intensified after a report said Kumar’s two deputies had raised at least 14 concerns over 10 months about voter-roll revisions, registration procedures and the Commission’s digital systems. The Commission says differing views are normal in institutional deliberations and maintains that its decisions were lawful. It has denied political favoritism.