India: Indian authorities detained scores of protesters, political leaders and social media personalities in New Delhi on Saturday, October 10, as security forces moved to prevent a major youth-led demonstration demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The crackdown included the detention of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee and former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Authorities also shut 45 metro stations and markets and suspended mobile internet services in parts of central Delhi as security measures intensified.
CJP leaders detained on arrival in Delhi
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and senior party leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained aboard an aircraft arriving in Delhi from Mumbai, according to the party.
Footage broadcast by television channels showed Dipke confronting police officers on the aircraft, saying, “I have come to be arrested, arrest me… I am not afraid of you guys.”
The CJP condemned the detentions as an “authoritarian” move and described them as a planned interception intended to weaken the leadership of the rally. The party demanded the immediate release of its leaders.
The protest movement, which calls itself the Cockroach Janta Party, emerged following controversy over remarks comparing unemployed young people to cockroaches. It has since mobilised young demonstrators around concerns about India’s electoral process.
Dhruv Rathee and political leaders among those detained
YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was reportedly detained by Delhi Police at his residence in Sector 56, Gurugram, on Saturday morning. He was in the National Capital Region to participate in the planned demonstration, according to Indian media reports citing police sources.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) also said that former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas and former state minister K.N. Balagopal had been detained. Brittas said the group was taken to Chhatrasal Stadium before being moved to another location.
Police also detained journalists covering the demonstration, according to representatives of two digital media outlets. Some lawyers protesting outside the Supreme Court were also reportedly taken into custody.
There was no immediate police comment on the reported detentions.
Delhi tightens security as restrictions disrupt transport
Authorities introduced extensive security measures across Delhi, a city of around 20 million people, in an effort to prevent the gathering from proceeding.
Forty-five metro stations and markets were shut, while mobile internet services were suspended in the central business district. Police carried out checks on buses and other vehicles at entry points to the city to identify potential protesters.
Barricades, concrete blocks and anti-riot vehicles equipped with tear-gas launchers were deployed along key routes. The restrictions delayed plans for demonstrators to assemble at Jantar Mantar, the designated protest site in central Delhi, at 10am.
Delhi Police had said on Friday that permission for the rally had not been granted and warned that anyone violating the restrictions would face legal action. The CJP maintained that the demonstration was an exercise of citizens’ fundamental rights.
Why are protesters demanding the election chief’s resignation?
The demonstration, promoted by the CJP under the banner of “Save Democracy”, centres on allegations of irregularities in the revision of India’s electoral rolls.
The controversy intensified after a report by The Indian Express said officials working under Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had questioned aspects of the voter-list revision process and disagreed with him over certain changes.
Opposition groups allege that the exercise could unfairly affect voters and benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). They have also claimed that voter deletions may have influenced the results of some recent state elections.
The CJP planned Saturday’s rally as the largest in a series of demonstrations that began the previous week. Protesters are calling for Kumar to resign and for safeguards to protect the integrity of elections.
Election Commission rejects allegations
Election Commission data indicates that approximately 130 million voter entries were deleted during the verification exercise. The figures include around 63 million people recorded as having relocated, 30 million who could not be traced and 28 million listed as deceased.
The Election Commission says these figures represent entries flagged during the draft revision process and maintains that voters who were wrongly removed can register again.
The BJP and the Election Commission have denied allegations that the revision was designed to influence election outcomes. The BJP has attributed its electoral success to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity and India’s economic growth, while accusing opposition parties of misleading the public.
The dispute has become a fresh political challenge for the government as opposition groups continue to raise concerns about electoral transparency ahead of a series of important state elections expected to begin in early 2027.
