Indian police detain Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke ahead of election protest

NEW DELHI: Police in the Indian capital detained Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the youth movement Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), on Saturday, ahead of a protest the group had called to demand the resignation of India’s chief election commissioner, the party said, according to Reuters.

Television channels reported that officers met Dipke at Delhi airport after he flew in from Mumbai and asked him to call off the demonstration, saying authorities had banned it. Reuters could not independently confirm these reports.

The movement said in a statement that two other leaders, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, were also detained after their flight landed.

Delhi under heavy security

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a Gen Z-led online satirical movement, has called a major protest in Delhi on Saturday demanding electoral reforms and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The protesters accuse him of manipulating voters’ lists, a charge the Election Commission has denied. Kumar has not commented on the calls for his resignation, according to the BBC.

At the centre of the row is the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls, which began last year. The Election Commission says the exercise is meant to remove duplicate and ineligible entries, and that 130 million names have so far been struck off. Opposition parties and activists allege that many of those removed are eligible voters and that Kumar is manipulating the process to favour Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. The BJP and the Election Commission have rejected the accusations.

The CJP first emerged as a major protest movement over the summer, during weeks of demonstrations demanding education reforms. Its protests in July saw violent clashes with police and led to the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, which was seen as a major victory for the group. Last week it held a rally in Mumbai calling for Kumar’s resignation, followed by another in Bengaluru on Thursday. Student groups and opposition parties have also protested in the capital in recent days. For three days from Tuesday, police broke up protests by opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and other MPs over the issue, with videos of Gandhi being forced onto a bus going viral.

Security lockdown in Delhi

More than 30,000 police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed in the capital, and authorities have urged citizens to stay away from the protests. All roads leading to Jantar Mantar, the main protest venue, have been closed with metal barricades, and drones were seen overhead. Several trains to Delhi have been cancelled and dozens of metro stations ordered shut. Traffic has been diverted from key roads, turning a normally 15-minute journey into more than an hour on Saturday morning. The BBC saw at least five people detained near the site, and journalists were cordoned off into a designated area.

Delhi Police said the measures were needed to maintain public safety, noting that Jantar Mantar can hold only 1,000 people at a time. CJP leaders allege that authorities have prevented many supporters from reaching Delhi.

Permission denied, defiance promised

Police official Nupur Prasad said permission was refused partly because of the “short notice” given by the CJP, as applications must be submitted at least 10 days in advance. She also said the group had not followed “lawful directions” in the past. The CJP disputes this, saying it only has to inform police, not seek approval.

Founder Abhijeet Dipke had said the group would march to Jantar Mantar “come what may”. “If you want to jail us or even shoot us we are prepared,” he said in a post on X addressed to Modi. Saturday’s protest is billed as the biggest in recent times, backed by several opposition parties, farmer organisations and student groups.