Organizers of India's Cockroach movement said authorities detained members, including spokesperson Deepak Baliyan, ahead of a Saturday rally in Delhi demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Organizers of India's Cockroach youth movement said on Thursday that authorities had begun detaining members ahead of a planned Saturday protest in Delhi calling for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign. Reuters reported the claim from the group and its leaders on X. The dispute is over a special revision of voter lists.
Spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka wrote that at least 10,000 people had been detained across the country, naming the Cockroach Janta Party, student groups, farmer and Dalit organizations, and political parties. Founder Abhijeet Dipke asked why the government did not simply declare an emergency. The movement said senior spokesperson Deepak Baliyan was among those held and that activists were being taken away by bus. Those figures are the group's claims, not a police tally.
dpa reported a separate gathering the same day at Freedom Park in Bengaluru, where Dipke stood with voters excluded from the rolls and said the people on stage were alive, not dead, and that what had died was democracy. dpa said the revision, which began in mid-2025, has so far deleted 130 million voters. That deletion figure is as reported by dpa.
In Delhi, dpa said an estimated 200 opposition lawmakers and hundreds of supporters marched to Rajghat. Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge told reporters that the freedom Gandhi fought for was being destroyed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Gyanesh Kumar. The BJP has accused Congress of using street protests to grab attention.
Police have refused permission for Saturday's Jantar Mantar rally, dpa reported. The Cockroach Janta Party said it would go ahead. No independent count of detentions was published in these accounts.
People Sentiments Negative
- Abhijeet Dipke asked why the government did not declare an emergency and said excluded voters on stage showed democracy had died.
- Ashutosh Ranka said at least 10,000 people had been detained.
- Mallikarjun Kharge said the freedom Gandhi fought for was being destroyed by Modi, Shah and Gyanesh Kumar.