Indian police have arrested Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the “cockroach” movement, according to several media reports on Saturday. He had been detained on Friday before a rally in Delhi that drew hundreds of people carrying the national flag and calling for the resignation of the country’s election chief.
Police said the arrest was made to prevent a breach of the peace. Dipke is due to appear before a Special Executive Magistrate on Saturday, according to Indian broadcasters NDTV and India Today.
Detentions at the Delhi protest
Dipke was seized on Friday as he stepped out of a house in central Delhi. Police pushed him into a police car and drove off after a brief argument. He had called the protest to back two Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders who were sent to jail for five days this week for demonstrating at a protest site in defiance of a ban. Earlier that day, police had met him and warned him against going ahead with the rally.
Student activist Neha Bora, a prominent face of the protests, was also detained on Friday while trying to reach central Delhi with dozens of supporters. She was released on Saturday and told a news agency that she wanted people to be spared, urging the impeachment of Gyanesh Kumar and an end to the special intensive revision, known as SIR. “Please, spare the people of India,” she said.
Dispute over the voter list revision
The youth-led CJP, opposition groups and student organisations have staged near-daily protests this month. They want Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign over a revision of voter lists, which they say benefits Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The revision removed more than 130 million voters from the rolls.
The Election Commission has denied favouring any party and said voters who were wrongly removed can re-enrol. The BJP has accused rivals of trying to undermine democracy by wrongly questioning legitimate electoral processes.
A major test for Modi’s government
The movement has become a serious political test for Modi and the BJP, who have held power for 12 years. Earlier this year, a weeks-long sit-in by its supporters forced Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign over exam paper leaks.
