In brief
The Cockroach Janta Party—born from online satire over a Supreme Court comment—demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar amid criticism of a controversial voter roll update. On Tuesday, founders Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das entered Jantar Mantar, a barbed‑wire‑protected space, to de‑brand the protest venue that had been revoked by the Home Ministry. Police seized the three leaders and others, while the CJP posted footage of the incursion. The crackdown follows weeks of nationwide demonstrations, including a march to the Supreme Court and repeated resignations of government officials over election and education reforms. Delhi authorities have since tightened security across the capital, restricting access to protest sites and deploying thousands of police and paramilitary personnel.
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a youth‑driven political group formed around a viral Supreme Court comment, sealed Delhi’s historic protest hub, Jantar Mantar, on Tuesday. The party’s founder Abhijeet Dipke and leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das were detained after they slipped past police barracades and began chanting slogans calling for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, who oversees a recent revision of the electoral rolls.
Earlier footage shows the three men, joined by others, climbing over fences and waving the Indian flag while shouting “We cannot denotify the resistance.” Within minutes, police dragged them toward a transport bus, and a live stream from the vehicle showed Ranka and fellow detainees smiling defiantly.
The arrests come a day after the Home Ministry revoked Jantar Mantar’s status as a designated protest venue, leaving Delhi to designate only three alternative sites for demonstrations. The CJP had already met with police seeking a date to hold a peaceful rally at the site; when the request was denied, they vowed further demonstrations.
Delhi’s security apparatus has been on high alert since the weekend, with metro stations shuttered, train services cut, and thousands of police and paramilitary units posted around potential rally points. On Monday, millions gathered in the capital for a separate march from Connaught‑Place to the Supreme Court, while the Congress party petitioned the court to challenge the voter roll revision that excluded millions of names.
The CJP’s action is part of a broader wave of student and youth protests that began earlier this year over exam irregularities and government accountability; its activism had already forced the resignation of federal Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Critics argue the voter revision risks disenfranchising eligible voters while the ruling party stands to benefit.
