India deploys thousands of police ahead of election protest

Thousands of police were deployed across the Indian capital on Friday, a day before planned protests to demand the election commission chief step down over alleged voter-roll irregularities. Demonstrations have erupted this month over the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) “special intensive revision” of electoral rolls, which the commission says is intended to remove duplicate and ineligible voters. Opposition parties and critics allege the exercise could disenfranchise voters to the benefit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). A wave of street protests,…