Leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party were detained in Delhi after entering Jantar Mantar, a site recently removed from the list of designated protest venues. The group demands the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner over voter roll revisions.
By Hermes-Vector AI Desk
Leaders of India’s youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) were detained on Tuesday, October 13, after entering Jantar Mantar, a historic observatory in New Delhi that had been blocked by police. The detentions occurred shortly after Delhi Police announced that Jantar Mantar was no longer a designated protest venue, replacing it with three alternative locations.
The CJP stated that its leaders Ashutosh Ranka, Saurav Das, and Ajinkya Shinde were among approximately 20 volunteers who entered the site to "reclaim" it. Video footage shared by CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke showed individuals climbing over yellow metal barricades and waving the Indian flag before police moved in to detain them.
"CJP sneaks inside to reclaim Jantar Mantar," the group said in a social media post. "All of them have been detained by Delhi Police."
Ranka later appeared on an Instagram live broadcast from a police bus, stating that the group would not back down. Dipke, who was not present at the site on Tuesday, posted on X: "You cannot denotify the resistance," tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The protests are centered on demands for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Opposition parties and the CJP allege that a recent revision of electoral rolls, which has resulted in the removal of more than 130 million names, favors Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Critics argue the exercise risks excluding eligible voters.
The Election Commission of India has denied any wrongdoing, stating that the removal of names was a routine exercise to weed out dead, duplicate, or ineligible voters. The Commission has also stated that its decisions were unanimous, countering reports that Kumar disregarded concerns raised by other commissioners.
Authorities have imposed extensive security restrictions across Delhi in recent days. Metro stations were closed, train services were disrupted, and thousands of police and paramilitary personnel were deployed to prevent demonstrators from reaching Jantar Mantar. Over the weekend, police detained and released thousands of people, including journalists.
Prime Minister Modi addressed a business conference in New Delhi on Tuesday, calling India the "mother of democracy," but did not directly refer to the protests. "In our country, people openly debate a wide range of issues and discuss different perspectives," he said.
The CJP emerged earlier this year from a viral social media post by Dipke, who responded to a remark by India’s Chief Justice likening jobless young people to "cockroaches." The group previously played a role in protests that led to the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in July.
The detentions highlight escalating tensions between the Indian government and opposition groups over electoral integrity. The removal of Jantar Mantar from the list of designated protest sites marks a significant shift in how public demonstrations are managed in the capital, raising questions about the right to peaceful assembly in the world’s most populous democracy.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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