LONDON: The row over Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in India spilled onto the streets of London this weekend, as rival groups of demonstrators held protest and counter-protest gatherings at Parliament Square and outside the High Commission of India.
On Saturday, hundreds of people gathered at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Parliament Square for a demonstration organised by the Indian Overseas Congress Youth wing against the Chief Election Commissioner and the SIR exercise. The protest, which had activist Dhruv Rathee as its keynote speaker, was supported by several diaspora platforms including Save Democracy, the Students' Federation of India (UK) and the South Asia Solidarity Group.
Across the statue, a smaller group held a counter-protest in support of the government. The two sides, kept apart by Metropolitan Police officers, tried to drown out each other's slogans. While chants of "Azadi" and "Saare Jahaan Se Achcha" rang out from the protesters, "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" and "Modi, Modi" were countered by the group waving a large cut-out of the Prime Minister.
The face-off grew heated at times as each side attempted to dominate the square with its chants. The protest began with slogans of "Inquilab Zindabad" and "Vande Mataram", followed by a reading of the preamble of the Constitution of India. Addressing the gathering in Hindi, Rathee said, "We don't want any foreign interference. I am here at Parliament Square to address Indians and NRIs. It is important to spread the message against 'vote chori' in our country."
Rathee added that the protests would stop the moment the Chief Election Commissioner was replaced by a candidate chosen in agreement between the government and the Leader of the Opposition.
The Saturday demonstration followed a protest on Friday outside the High Commission of India in London, organised by the Students' Federation of India (UK). A large group of demonstrators had gathered for what was described as a "Stand in Solidarity" protest demanding "accountability and transparency", while a smaller group of government supporters convened a counter-demonstration.
The two groups were kept apart by several Metropolitan Police officers, with both sides waving the Tricolour.
The London protests are part of a series of demonstrations that began with an "Emergency Protest" earlier in the week outside India House, called to amplify the demands of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) — including the removal of Gyanesh Kumar and the scrapping of the SIR of electoral rolls in India.
The Students' Federation of India (UK) said in a statement: "We will not tolerate the erasure of votes. We will not tolerate police violence. We are here in defence of Indian democracy."
On the other side, India Diaspora (UK) had issued what it called an "urgent appeal to all London Bharat Premi Janta" to gather in counter-protest. Its founder, Hirdesh Gupta, said: "The Indian diaspora in the UK stands firmly, shoulder to shoulder, with Modi Ji and his government in their vision of a strong, united and developed India."
Rahul Kale, a London-based entrepreneur with strong business links to India who was among the counter-protesters, said that such protests hampered investor confidence. "Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has expanded global trade through a landmark FTA with the UK, opening new export opportunities," he said. "I feel it is necessary for the protesters to understand that these protests in London for no reason hamper investor confidence and create unnecessary panic."
The demonstrations in London echo the protests that have been taking place across India, led by the Congress-led INDIA bloc along with the Cockroach Janata Party, which have focused their criticism on the Election Commission of India over the SIR exercise. The opposition factions have alleged flaws in the revision of the electoral rolls and have pressed for the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner.
The Election Commission has maintained that the exercise is intended to update the electoral rolls by identifying deceased, duplicate and shifted voters and other ineligible entries. The poll body has rejected the allegations of wrongdoing.
In India, the protests have seen significant mobilisation. In the national capital, protesters took out a Tiranga rally outside Central Park in Connaught Place amid heightened security on Friday, while workers and supporters of the Aam Aadmi Party also gathered to stage a Tiranga rally, directing their protest against the Election Commission over alleged institutional irregularities.
Ahead of the proposed rally in Delhi, CJP activist Abhijeet Dipke had called upon people to gather at Central Park in Connaught Place on October 16 to hoist the Tricolour under the "Lehra Do Tiranga" rally. However, Delhi Police detained around 150 demonstrators during the protests in central Delhi.
Dipke himself was taken into custody while leaving the residence of Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) spokesperson Anish Gawande, and was later ordered to be released by a Delhi executive magistrate court.
The Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls has been one of the most contentious political issues in the country in recent weeks. The Election Commission has described it as a routine exercise to clean up the voter lists by removing the names of deceased and duplicate voters and those who have shifted constituencies.
Opposition parties, however, have alleged that the exercise is being used to delete the names of genuine voters, and have demanded greater transparency in the process along with the removal of the Chief Election Commissioner.
The protests in London are also the latest in a string of demonstrations by the Indian diaspora in the British capital over domestic Indian issues. Earlier in the week, an "Emergency Protest" was held outside India House to amplify the demands of the Cockroach Janata Party, and the gatherings on Friday and Saturday suggest that the campaign is gathering momentum abroad even as the confrontation continues at home.
The Metropolitan Police, which kept the rival groups apart on both days, has so far reported no major incidents arising from the demonstrations.
The London episode underlines how India's domestic political battles are increasingly playing out among the diaspora in global capitals. With both sides waving the Tricolour and claiming to speak for Indian democracy, the polarised gatherings at Parliament Square offered a vivid illustration of the depth of the divide over the Election Commission and the electoral roll revision — a divide that shows no signs of narrowing.
(Reporting based on NDTV and The Hindu.)