By Saurabh Sharma, Shilpa Jamkhandikar and Sakshi Dayal
NEW DELHI, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Indian police broke up an opposition sit-in on Tuesday and briefly detained Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi and other lawmakers, after they had demanded the election chief's resignation over claims that voter lists were revised to favour the government.
Dozens of lawmakers led by Gandhi had marched on the Election Commission of India (ECI) headquarters before beginning the nearby sit-in on white mattresses under a tree, which ended in the evening when police swooped in and hauled several of them into vehicles.
Parties opposing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, along with members of the popular "cockroach" youth movement, launched protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar after the Indian Express newspaper reported disagreements within the commission last month over updating voter lists.
The demonstrations present a political challenge to Modi midway into his third term, just months after similar protests forced the resignation of his education minister over exam paper leaks.
The reported differences over the voter lists and registration procedures stoked concern about the neutrality of the commission, led by a Modi government appointee. Reuters could not verify the newspaper report.
'WILL SIT AS LONG AS WE HAVE TO'
Congress and other parties say the revised voter lists benefit Modi and his party. Kumar has not commented on the issue, but the ECI and Modi's governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have denied the accusations.
BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said Congress lawmakers were misleading the country by making baseless claims about the election commission.
Delhi Police said Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Vadra, also a lawmaker, and others were detained in accordance with the law to maintain peace and in the interest of public safety.
They were later released, Congress said.
Gandhi had earlier told reporters that the "election commissioners will have to meet us" eventually.
"We only want to go to the election commissioners, ask them questions, and tell them you have stolen votes," he said.
He and several others in his Congress party had sat on the mattresses inside the compound of the state broadcaster's office, next door to the ECI.
"We will sit as long as we have to," Gandhi said before police detentions.
The election commission later said it received a request to meet the lawmakers late on Tuesday, but the venue they suggested was not in line with ECI protocol. The lawmakers rejected the ECI's offer to have one of its officers receive their memorandum, it added in a statement.
PROTEST MARCH
The protest and detentions are the latest in a series of almost daily demonstrations by student organisations, political parties and the cockroach movement, which began last week.
During the protest march through the centre of Delhi earlier on Tuesday, lawmakers carried placards, waved the national flag and shouted slogans against Kumar on the route toward the ECI headquarters from parliament.
Some carried placards calling Kumar a traitor and accused BJP of snatching away the right to vote, while they sat on the road outside the commission's office demanding to meet Kumar.
Gandhi, Vadra and others stood on police barricades there, waving the national flag and calling for Kumar to resign. Hundreds of security personnel, some wearing riot gear and carrying batons, stopped Gandhi and other lawmakers from entering the ECI.
Gandhi said 300 lawmakers took part in the protest, a figure Reuters could not independently verify.
"The election commission is a puppet in the hands of the government," Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge told reporters as the march began. "We are fighting to save our democracy."
(Reporting by Saurabh Sharma; Additional reporting by Arpan Chaturvedi and Sakshi Dayal; Writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar and YP Rajesh; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Jonathan Spicer)
