Videos released by opposition leaders show several senior officials were arrested in New Delhi on Saturday.
Among them is Arvind Kejriwal, Aam Aadmi Party leader and former Delhi chief minister.
“It’s official…we live under an absolute dictatorship,” Kejriwal wrote on X.
Mamata Banerjee, who lost power as West Bengal chief minister earlier this year, was also arrested.
Pinarayi Vijayan, a communist leader who ruled the southern state of Kerala until May, was among those arrested.
Rahul Gandhi, leader of India’s opposition Congress party, called the crackdown an act of “cowardice” and described Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, right-wing Hindu nationalist RSS leader Mohan Bhagwat, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval as “the villains of this story” who were “slowly finding the space closing around them.” We are closing this space.”
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, sister of Rahul Gandhi and a Congress MP, wrote on social media: “India is no longer a democracy. It is a dictatorship led by Mr. Narendra Modi and Mr. Amit Shah. »
Opposition parties and their critics have warned that the voter roll review exercise could disenfranchise millions of people and give an advantage to Prime Minister Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Election Commission of India has rejected allegations of wrongdoing, saying the “intensive special revision” aims to weed out duplicate and ineligible voters.
The protests echo the CJP’s massive mobilization in July, which forced the then education minister to resign following an exam scandal.
This time, the protesters are demanding the resignation of election chief Gyanesh Kumar.
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