A court in the Indian capital has ordered the release of top leaders of the Gen Z-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). The leaders, including Abhijeet Dipke, who began the movement in May, had been detained on arrival in Delhi on Saturday to lead protests seeking electoral reforms. The CJP is seeking electoral reforms just months before crucial state elections and has also demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of manipulating voters’ lists.
The CJP leaders were released on the condition that they will not engage in breach of peace for one year. The group, which is not registered as a political party in India, has tapped into anger over unemployment, exam paper leaks, and government accountability. The movement gained momentum after Dipke's post on social media went viral, and it eventually led to the resignation of India’s education minister in July.
Thousands of security personnel were deployed, and roads were barricaded in New Delhi as the city braced for protests for a second day. At least 45 metro stations were shut, and Delhi’s main railway stations were closed with major train services cancelled. Many protesters attempting to travel from outside were de-boarded en route. The city looked like it was under siege, with roads barricaded and offices, shops, and restaurants shut.
The row centres over a mammoth exercise to update electoral rolls nationwide. The Election Commission has said it’s a routine exercise to weed out dead, duplicate, or ineligible voters. However, at least 130 million voter names have been purged from the rolls so far, and in many states, the exercise has been shrouded in controversy.
The CJP and opposition parties accuse Kumar of favouring Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the way the electoral rolls are being updated. The Election Commission and the BJP have denied this. The group first emerged as a major protest movement during weeks of demonstrations over the summer demanding education reforms and the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
On Saturday, thousands of protesters turned up, including activists and senior lawyers who were all detained. Student leader Neha Bora tried to march from Dilli Haat to Jantar Mantar but was also stopped and taken away. They were all released later on Saturday. One woman who managed to evade the police and reach Connaught Place said that in a democracy, everyone has the right to protest and express their dissatisfaction.
The CJP has called for more protests on Sunday. The group stemmed from a joke made by Dipke in response to a remark by Chief Justice Surya Kant, who had likened jobless youngsters to “cockroaches”. The movement has gained significant attention, and its impact on the upcoming state elections remains to be seen.
Key points
- The Cockroach Janta Party is seeking electoral reforms and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
- The group emerged as a major protest movement during weeks of demonstrations over the summer demanding education reforms.
- Thousands of security personnel were deployed, and roads were barricaded in New Delhi as the city braced for protests for a second day.
