By Saurabh Sharma, Sunil Kataria and Sakshi Dayal
NEW DELHI, Oct 10 (Reuters) – Police detained hundreds of protesters and the “Cockroach” youth movement founder in Delhi on Saturday as security forces locked down parts of the capital to thwart a demonstration demanding the resignation of India’s election chief.
Thousands of police and paramilitary personnel were deployed across the city, mobile internet services were suspended in the central business district and dozens of metro stations and markets were shut as authorities moved to stop a rally organised by the Cockroach movement.
The protest was aimed at Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over a revision of voter lists that critics say disproportionately benefits Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The movement had planned to gather thousands of people at Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site in central Delhi. But the area was sealed off by security forces before the demonstration began.
However, small protests broke out elsewhere in the city, including at a popular crafts market and the memorial to freedom movement leader Mahatma Gandhi, with protesters shouting slogans demanding Kumar’s resignation.
“Long live the revolution,” some young protesters chanted in central Delhi as police chased them and dragged scores of others into buses to be taken away, even as more arrived, a Reuters witness said.
“This is violating the rights of the people and the country will not tolerate this anymore,” Yogendra Solanki told Reuters as police escorted him away.
Police also detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke and senior leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka when their flight from Mumbai landed in Delhi, the group said in a statement.
DELHI LOCKED DOWN TO FOIL PROTEST
Television footage showed Dipke challenging officers who approached him on board the aircraft.
“I have come to be arrested, arrest me … I am not afraid of you guys,” he said.
“No, this is not an arrest,” one officer replied. “Please cooperate.”
The movement condemned what it called the “authoritarian detention” of its leaders, demanded their immediate release and said the protest would continue regardless.
Some opposition lawmakers and former chief ministers Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal and Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi were also detained, TV channels showed.
Representatives of two digital news outlets said police briefly detained four of their reporters while they were covering the demonstrations. A Reuters journalist was also detained briefly before being released.
Some lawyers protesting outside the Supreme Court were also picked up and later freed, according to the president of the court’s bar association.
There was no immediate comment from police on the detentions.
Across the sprawling capital of about 20 million people, security forces mounted checkpoints on major roads and at city entry points. Police officers boarded buses searching for protesters, while vehicles were subjected to inspections.
Barricades and concrete blocks stopped traffic, while anti-riot vehicles mounted with tear gas guns were stationed on key routes.
NEW CHALLENGE TO MODI
The demonstrations represent one of the most serious tests yet for Modi, stemming from allegations that election authorities improperly revised voter rolls ahead of recent state polls.
Protests have gathered momentum since last week, when the Indian Express newspaper reported that two election commissioners had questioned and disagreed with Kumar over revisions that removed roughly 130 million names from voter lists.
Kumar has not commented but the Election Commission and the BJP have denied allegations of wrongdoing.
The BJP says its electoral success reflects Modi’s popularity and India’s economic growth, and accuses opposition parties of spreading misinformation because they have failed to win elections.
Nonetheless, the near daily protests pose a new challenge for Modi, just months after demonstrations over exam paper leaks forced his education minister to quit.
The unrest also comes ahead of a series of important state elections beginning in early 2027.
Saturday’s restrictions showed Modi’s government had “officially waged war against its own people”, K.C. Venugopal, a senior leader of the main opposition Congress party said.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said democracy had prevailed over mob rule.
DELETIONS AFFECTED STATE POLLS, OPPOSITION ALLEGES
Opposition parties say the voter deletions affected the outcome of some recent state elections won by the BJP, and have cast a shadow on elections in the world’s largest democracy.
Election Commission data show about 130 million voter entries were removed during the verification exercise, including 63 million people who had relocated, 30 million who could not be traced and 28 million who had died.
The commission says the removals relate to entries identified during the draft revision process and that any eligible voter incorrectly deleted can re-enrol.
(Reporting by Saurabh Sharma, Aftab Ahmed, Sarita Chaganti Singh, Shanima A and Sakshi Dayal; Writing by YP Rajesh; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Ros Russell)
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