India Election Protests: Court orders release of ‘Cockroach’ movement leaders in Delhi

India’s capital braced for further protests on Sunday after a court ordered the release of Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), and two other senior leaders who were detained ahead of demonstrations over alleged irregularities in voter registration.

Dipke and the other leaders were detained after their plane landed in Delhi on Saturday, as the movement prepared to gather thousands of supporters at Jantar Mantar in central New Delhi.

They appeared before a magistrate early on Sunday. CJP legal head Ratna Singh announced their release in a post on X, saying they had been ordered not to breach the peace for one year.

Activist and social media influencer Dhruv Rathee, who was also detained, was released after midnight on condition that he would not take part in further protests, an Indian interior ministry official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

Police detained more than 2,000 people and restricted access to central Delhi to prevent Saturday’s demonstration, according to the report. Thousands of police and paramilitary personnel remained deployed across the city on Sunday, although metro stations reopened and mobile internet services resumed.

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Police said most people detained during the first day of protests had been released late on Saturday.

Opposition parties and critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government condemned what they described as excessive force against demonstrators. A United Nations body also urged Indian authorities to respect the right to peaceful assembly.

India’s foreign ministry criticised the UN response as selective and described its statement as unwarranted interference in the country’s internal affairs.

Voter-list changes fuel protests

The demonstrations are calling for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign over a revision of electoral rolls that critics say could benefit Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been in power for more than 12 years.

Protests have taken place intermittently across India since The Indian Express reported in late September that Kumar’s two deputies had raised internal concerns about voter-list revisions, registration procedures and digital systems.

The Election Commission has said differing opinions are normal during internal deliberations and denied favouring any political party.

The BJP, meanwhile, has accused its opponents of undermining democracy by questioning legitimate electoral processes.

Figures cited from Election Commission data indicate that around 130 million names were removed from electoral rolls during a verification exercise. The reported reasons included approximately 63 million people who had moved and 30 million who could not be traced.

Opposition parties allege that Muslim voters and other minorities may be disproportionately affected by the deletions. The BJP and the Election Commission reject allegations of electoral manipulation.