Police detained India’s ‘cockroach’ movement founder Abhijeet Dipke, student leaders and supporters yesterday as hundreds poured into central Delhi, waving the national flag and demanding the resignation of India’s election chief.
The youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), opposition groups and student organisations have held near-daily protests this month demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over a revision of voter lists they say favours Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
More than 130 million voters were deleted during the revision.
The Election Commission has denied favouring any party and said wrongly deleted voters can re-enrol.
The BJP has accused rivals of trying to undermine democracy by wrongly questioning legitimate electoral processes.
Dipke called yesterday’s protest in support of two CJP leaders detained and sent to jail this week for five days for demonstrating at a protest site in violation of a ban.
The group and left-wing student organisations had urged supporters to gather at the Central Park in New Delhi’s busy Connaught Place shopping and food district yesterday evening to wave and hoist the national flag.
Dipke was detained as he stepped out of a house in central Delhi, with police hauling him into a police car and driving away after a brief argument.
Student activist Neha Bora, a prominent face of the protests, was also detained as she tried to reach Connaught Place with dozens of supporters.
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