India detains thousands, locks down Delhi to crush protest against election chief

Delhi police detain Cockroach Janta Party founder and two senior leaders as their plane lands from Mumbai

NEW DELHI: Indian authorities detained more than 2,000 people, including the founder of the ‘Cockroach’ youth movement, on Saturday as a major security clampdown in the capital blocked a protest calling for the resignation of the country’s election chief.

Police and paramilitary forces were deployed in large numbers across Delhi, while mobile internet services were suspended in the central business district and dozens of metro stations and markets were closed to prevent the demonstration from going ahead.

The rally, organised by the Cockroach movement, was aimed at Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over changes to voter lists that critics say favour Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The movement had planned to gather thousands of people at Jantar Mantar in central Delhi, but security forces sealed off the area before the demonstration could begin.

A Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that more than 2,000 people had been detained in Delhi. Local media reported that around 400 protesters were held in Mumbai, India’s financial hub. Police did not immediately on the detentions.

The United Nations human rights office expressed concern over the mass detentions before and during the protests.

“We call on the authorities to ensure that the right to peaceful assembly is fully respected and fulfilled,” UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said in a statement.

He also urged the authorities to engage in “meaningful dialogue” to address the “broadly held” concerns raised by protesters.

India’s mission to the UN in Geneva rejected the criticism as “misplaced” and an “unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of India”.

It said the right to peaceful assembly was guaranteed by the Indian Constitution, adding that citizens exercised this right, as in other democracies, subject to reasonable restrictions in the interest of public order.

Movement leaders detained

Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke and senior leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka when their flight from Mumbai landed in Delhi, the group said in a statement.

Television footage showed Dipke challenging officers who approached him on board the aircraft.

“I have come to be arrested, arrest me ... I am not afraid of you guys,” he said.

“No, this is not an arrest,” an officer replied. “Please cooperate.”

The movement condemned what it called the “authoritarian detention” of its leaders, demanded their release and vowed to continue its protests.

“We will continue our protest tomorrow, day after ... until Gyanesh Kumar resigns. We will be on the streets,” CJP leader Ajinkya Shinde told reporters.

The group also said authorities had refused to provide information its leaders’ whereabouts or health, even after it learned that Dipke’s grandmother had died. Police said Dipke had been informed of her death and offered assistance to return for the funeral.

Television channels also showed the detention of opposition lawmakers and former chief ministers, including Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal, Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi and Pinarayi Vijayan of Kerala.

Representatives of two digital news outlets said police briefly detained four of their reporters covering the demonstrations. A Reuters journalist was also briefly detained before being released.

Across Delhi, a city of around 20 million people, security forces set up checkpoints on major roads and at entry points, boarded buses to for protesters and inspected vehicles. Barricades and concrete blocks disrupted traffic, while anti-riot vehicles equipped with tear-gas launchers guarded key routes.

New challenge to Modi

The demonstrations pose a significant challenge to Modi amid allegations that election authorities improperly revised voter rolls ahead of recent state elections.

Protests intensified after the Indian Express reported last week that two election commissioners had questioned Kumar’s revisions, which removed roughly 130 million entries from voter lists.

Kumar has not commented on the allegations, while the Election Commission and the BJP have denied wrongdoing.

The BJP says its electoral success reflects Modi’s popularity and India’s economic growth, and accuses opposition parties of spreading misinformation.

The near-daily protests come months after demonstrations over examination paper leaks forced India’s education minister to resign. The unrest also precedes a series of important state elections scheduled to begin in early 2027.

Rahul Gandhi, leader of the main opposition Congress party, said Modi’s opponents would not back down.

Senior BJP member Ravi Shankar Prasad said his party did not oppose demonstrations but argued that rivals had “weaponised” street protests following electoral defeats.

Opposition alleges voter deletions affected state polls

Opposition parties say the voter deletions affected the outcome of recent state elections won by the BJP, casting a shadow over voting in the world’s largest democracy.

Election Commission data show that around 130 million voter entries were removed during the verification exercise. These included 63 million people who had relocated, 30 million who could not be traced and 28 million who had died.

The commission says the removals concern entries identified during the draft revision process and that eligible voters who were wrongly removed can re-enrol.

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