A court has ordered the release of Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the Cockroach Janta party (CJP), and two other senior leaders, as Delhi braces for a second day of youth-led protests demanding the resignation of India’s election chief. Dipke and his fellow leaders were initially detained on Saturday upon their arrival in Delhi, just as the movement sought to gather thousands of supporters at Jantar Mantar in the city center.
Indian authorities conducted a sweeping crackdown on Saturday, with Reuters reporting that police detained more than 2,000 people to prevent the demonstration. While most of those detained on the first day were released by Saturday night, thousands of police and paramilitary personnel remained deployed across the city on Sunday. Despite the heavy security presence, metro stations have reopened and mobile internet services are back online.
The protests are centered on demands for the resignation of the chief election commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar. The movement is protesting a recent revision of voter lists, which critics argue disproportionately benefits Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), which has been in power for more than 12 years. Sporadic protests have occurred across India since the Indian Express reported in late September that two of Kumar’s deputies raised internal concerns regarding voter list revisions, registration procedures, and digital systems.
The Election Commission has denied favoring any party, stating that differing views are a normal part of internal deliberations. Conversely, the BJP has accused opposition groups of attempting to undermine the country’s democracy by questioning legitimate electoral processes. According to Election Commission data cited by the BJP, approximately 130 million names—more than the population of Japan—have been deleted from electoral rolls during the verification exercise. This includes 63 million people who had relocated and 30 million who could not be traced. Opposition parties contend that these deletions disproportionately affect Muslim voters and other minorities who are unlikely to support the ruling party.
The UN human rights office has expressed concern regarding the mass detentions. Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan stated, “We call on the authorities to ensure that the right to peaceful assembly is fully respected and fulfilled,” and urged authorities to engage in “meaningful dialogue.” India’s foreign ministry responded by calling the UN’s approach “selective” and stated that the comments constituted “an unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of India.”
The “cockroach” movement, which began as online satire, has evolved into a significant pressure group following street protests against exam paper leaks that led to the resignation of Modi’s education minister. The CJP has labeled its current campaign against Kumar as “Season 2” and has vowed to continue until India’s election system is reformed.
