Political interference is suspected after hundreds of Christians, including a Catholic archbishop, were denied their right to vote in Indian state elections despite apparently having all the relevant papers.

Archbishop Leo Cornelio of Bhopal was among those turned away from polling booths in the central state of Madhya Pradesh because their names were not on the voter list. He said he thought it likely that his name had been “deliberately deleted”, which he described as “unjust and not a good sign for the democracy”.