India opposition protests: Cockroach party leaders detained over voter lists

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Opposition parties seek audit and safeguards against alleged wrongful removals

Top leaders of India’s Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) were detained on Tuesday after they jumped barricades to enter Jantar Mantar, a historic observatory and long-standing protest site in New Delhi.

The demonstrators waved the Indian flag and chanted slogans demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over a controversial voter list revision.

The latest detentions followed a major opposition march to the Supreme Court on Monday, as protests against the revision continued to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and draw attention to allegations of electoral irregularities.

The CJP said its leaders Ashutosh Ranka, Saurav Das and Ajinkya Shinde were among approximately 20 volunteers who entered Jantar Mantar to reclaim the site after authorities removed its status as an officially designated protest venue.

The party said the volunteers had “sneaked” into the observatory. A CJP livestream showed around a dozen demonstrators jumping a gate and barricades before reaching the site, where they raised slogans and displayed the Indian flag. Police subsequently detained them.

“You cannot denotify the resistance,” CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke wrote on X following the detentions.

Delhi Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Monday, police announced that Jantar Mantar, located in the capital’s central business district, would no longer be an official protest site. Authorities said three alternative venues had been identified.

CJP leaders separately met Delhi Police to demand a date for a peaceful demonstration, warning that they would issue a fresh protest call if a date was not provided within 24 hours.

The detentions came a day after thousands of opposition demonstrators marched through central Delhi to the Supreme Court, petitioning it against the voter list revision.

The march covered approximately seven kilometres (four miles), with protesters waving party flags and demanding Kumar’s resignation. It concluded peacefully under tight security, following a weekend crackdown in which police detained thousands of demonstrators, including CJP leaders, and imposed restrictions across central Delhi.

Authorities closed six metro stations for 11 hours and restricted traffic along several major stretches during the protests.

Opposition parties and CJP supporters have held almost daily demonstrations this month, accusing the Election Commission’s revision process of favouring Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The opposition petition, which includes the signature of opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, is expected to be heard by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

It seeks an audit of deleted voter names, safeguards against removals without prior notice and an opportunity for affected individuals to be heard. The petition also calls for an interim nationwide suspension of the revision process.

The Election Commission has denied favouring any political party and said voters whose names were wrongly removed can re-enrol.

The BJP, meanwhile, has accused opposition parties of attempting to undermine democracy by questioning legitimate electoral processes.

Monday’s march included opposition party members and left-wing student groups. Anirudh Siyag, a PhD student participating in the demonstration, said the country’s fundamental values were under attack and its institutions were losing their independence.

The voter list revision, which began last year, has resulted in more than 130 million names being removed from electoral rolls — a figure exceeding Japan’s population.

The reported deletions include approximately 28 million people who had died, 63 million who had relocated and 30 million whose whereabouts could not be established.

The controversy intensified after the Indian Express reported last month that two deputies of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had raised internal concerns about voter list revisions, registration procedures and digital systems.

Opposition parties allege that Muslim voters and other minorities are disproportionately affected by the deletions because they are considered less likely to support the ruling Hindu nationalist party. Both the Election Commission and the BJP have rejected the allegations.

The Cockroach Janta Party has mobilised protests in recent months over several issues, including government school infrastructure and employment opportunities. The movement has emerged as one of the significant political challenges facing Modi and the BJP during their 12 years in power.

Earlier this year, CJP supporters staged a weeks-long sit-in at Jantar Mantar over alleged examination paper leaks. The protest forced Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign, according to the report.

The latest demonstrations have widened the dispute from the voter list revision to questions about electoral procedures, the role of constitutional institutions and the right to protest in India’s capital.

The BJP has accused the main opposition Congress party of using the protests to regain power.

Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan alleged that Congress was discrediting constitutional institutions, creating chaos and unrest on the streets, and targeting people in the name of politics to return to office.

Opposition parties, however, maintain that the voter list revision requires scrutiny and stronger safeguards to prevent eligible voters from being removed without proper procedures.

With the Supreme Court hearing expected on Tuesday and CJP leaders demanding permission for another peaceful demonstration, the dispute over India’s electoral rolls continues to fuel protests in New Delhi.

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