Indian security personnel, carrying batons and shields and accompanied by riot vehicles, surrounded the site of a planned opposition protest in Delhi on Sunday that will demand the resignation of the country’s electoral chief over a controversial review of voter lists. Authorities warned of traffic diversions ahead of the protest march and rally to be led by Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi. The opposition says it expects hundreds of thousands of people to turn out in what it says will be a major challenge for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Opposition parties, student organizations and the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party have held rallies almost daily since last month demanding that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar abandon the revision of the voter list that critics say favors the BJP. See moreHow far will the ‘Cucarachas’ movement go? India’s youth-led protests challenge Modi government. The Election Commission has denied favoring any party and said wrongly removed voters can re-register, while the BJP has accused its rivals of trying to undermine democracy by wrongly questioning legitimate electoral processes. Analysts say the “youth protests and growing support for the opposition constitute the worst crisis for Modi since he came to power in 2014. But his government remains stable and the next general election will not be held until 2029. Opposition parties have announced they will hold a nearly 1.5 kilometer (1 mile) march on Sunday from central Delhi to Ramlila Maidan, a ground that is the designated venue for their protest rally. Images from news agency ANI They showed riot vehicles and dozens of security personnel armed with batons and shields outside the rally venue, where announcements were being made urging people to ensure smooth movement of traffic and cooperate with police officers To display this content from “as required” “People have started coming to participate in this rally… we have ensured proper arrangements at the venue, and arrangements are also planned on the route of the march which will take place in a few hours,” police officer Rohit Rajbir told ANI Protests demanding Kumar’s resignation broke out after The Indian Express newspaper reported in September that his two deputies had raised several concerns internally about revisions to voter lists, registration procedures and digital systems. change, which began last year, removed more than 130 million names – more than the population of Japan – from voter lists, including 28 million who died, 63 million who relocated and 30 million who could not be traced. Opposition parties allege that the removals disproportionately affect Muslim voters and other minorities, who are unlikely to support the ruling Hindu nationalist party, accusations that the electoral panel and the BJP reject (FRANCE 24 with Reuters).