Young people in India have this autumn produced the most intense wave of street protests in a decade, according to a Reuters analysis carried by the South China Morning Post. The stake is not a vague slogan. It is the Special Intensive Revision of the voter rolls, after which, on Election Commission figures cited by the BJP, about 130 million names were removed — more than the population of Japan.

The Commission and Narendra Modi’s party say most of those names were people who had moved (about 63 million) or could not be traced (about 30 million), and they deny manipulation. The opposition and the youth movement Cockroach Janta Party say the deletions hit voters unlikely to back the BJP, including Muslims, and demand the resignation of the Commission’s chief, Gyanesh Kumar. Those are political accusations, not a court finding.

On Saturday in New Delhi the police blocked a gathering called at Jantar Mantar. AP describes barricades, buses of detainees, chases in the streets. Police say they refused permission because the request came late. BJP spokesman Sambit Patra called the protesters “anarchic elements”. This report does not name detained young people: where inquiries exist, they are open.

The Cockroach movement began online in May, over leaked exam papers, and in July forced the education minister to resign — a rare blow to a prime minister in his third term. It is now trying to widen the cause from school to the ballot box. State elections are due next year, including in Uttar Pradesh and in Gujarat, Modi’s home state. The national vote is in 2029.

Reuters notes that the BJP puts its scores down to Modi’s popularity and economic growth. The opposition ties some recent results to the rolls. Without a published independent inquiry, the two readings sit side by side. This article is not voting advice and does not decide whether the lists were cleaned or emptied.

Image: Subeesh Balan, Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; the observatory at the gathering site, archive, not Saturday's barricades.

Sources consulted: Modi under pressure as India youth protests rise to highest level in a decade - SCMP / Reuters; Angry Indian youth hit the streets to challenge Modi over SIR - AP.