London, Oct 14, 2026 13:14 IST
Diaspora groups in the UK held a protest outside the High Commission of India in London on Tuesday evening in solidarity with demonstrations in New Delhi over electoral reforms and the right to protest. The gathering backed the demands of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), student groups and opposition parties, including the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Described as an Emergency Protest, the demonstration was convened by the South Asia Solidarity Group, Cambridge South Asian Forum Against Hindutva, Indian Workers' Association and SOAS Ambedkar Society, among other organisations. A large number of students attended the event.
Participants expressed solidarity with the Jantar Mantar 2.0 protests and what organisers described as the struggle in India to defend the right to vote and the right to protest. The gathering was called to amplify the CJP's demands. Mukti Shah of the South Asia Solidarity Group stated that the movement extends beyond one official and represents a broader pushback against what organizers term a global far-right regime.
Leaders of student groups addressed the gathering and called on their members to organise in solidarity with protesters in India. Demonstrators held placards targeting the CEC and condemning what they described as police brutality and sexual violence against protesters, journalists and lawyers. The London demonstration was part of a wider show of solidarity across the UK, with the Students' Federation of India UK also organizing gatherings in Cardiff, Leeds and Edinburgh during the week.
Protests have intensified in New Delhi, where the CJP, student groups and opposition parties have demanded electoral reforms and Kumar's resignation over alleged irregularities in the nationwide revision of electoral rolls under the SIR exercise, which began last year.
The Election Commission has maintained that the exercise is aimed at updating electoral rolls by identifying deceased, duplicate, shifted and otherwise ineligible entries. The UK gatherings reiterated solidarity with the protests in India and the demands concerning the SIR exercise and the CEC.