Hundreds of Indian opposition figures were briefly detained by the police in New Delhi on Monday as they tried to march on the country’s election commission, protesting what they say are repeated and calculated electoral irregularities favoring Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s powerful ruling party.

       Chaotic scenes of some opposition leaders trying to climb over police barricades before they were bused to police stations marked a new escalation in a fight that has been intensifying in recent years. Opposition parties have stepped up accusations of foul play as they have struggled to overcome results favoring Mr. Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, including in states where they say that uncorrupted tallies should have gone strongly against the B.J.P.

       The opposition, led by Rahul Gandhi of the Indian National Congress, claims the ruling party and the election commission are jointly manipulating elections through obscure additions and deletions to voter rolls.

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