Key Takeaways
- Top leaders of India’s 'cockroach' youth movement detained after entering protest site.
- Protesters demand chief election commissioner’s resignation over voter list revisions.
- Opposition parties continue to challenge Modi government over electoral processes.
Top leaders of India’s 'cockroach' youth movement were detained on Tuesday after they entered a historic observatory to protest against the chief election commissioner’s resignation, according to reports.
The detention comes after the Delhi Police announced that the Jantar Mantar open air observatory, a popular site for protests, was no longer designated as an official protest site.
Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Ashutosh Ranka, Saurav Das, and Ajinkya Shinde, along with about 20 volunteers, were among those detained after they 'sneaked' inside the observatory, the CJP said.
The protesters waved the Indian flag and chanted slogans before being detained by police, according to a livestream by the CJP.
The detention follows a clampdown by police that foiled CJP plans for a weekend demonstration, with thousands of protesters, including CJP leaders, detained, reports state.
The 'cockroach' movement, which has mobilised protests against various issues, is among the biggest political challenges to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in his 12 years in power.
The latest protests erupted after the Indian Express newspaper reported that the chief election commissioner’s two deputies raised concerns internally about voter list revisions, registration procedures, and digital systems.
The change, which started last year, removed over 130 million names from voter lists, including 28 million who died, 63 million who relocated, and 30 million who could not be traced, according to reports.
Opposition parties allege the deletions disproportionately affect Muslim voters and other minorities, who are unlikely to support the Hindu nationalist ruling party, a claim the poll panel and BJP reject.
