NEW DELHI: Youth-led protests against India’s election chief have continued despite a security crackdown, with demonstrators demanding the resignation of the country’s chief election commissioner over allegations of voter-roll manipulation.
Two leaders of the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) were remanded in custody for five days on Wednesday as police intensified the crackdown to contain demonstrations in the capital.
CJP activists and opposition parties have accused the Election Commission of manipulating voter rolls to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Delhi Police said CJP leaders Ashutosh Ranka, 30, and Saurav Das, 27, were taken into custody for their “alleged repeated attempts to disturb public peace and violate the law”.
Protest Leaders Detained
The arrests followed an incident on Tuesday when Ranka and Das jumped security barricades at Jantar Mantar, a decades-old protest site in central New Delhi, and waved the national flag.
Police have barred demonstrations at the site and sealed it off with yellow metal barricades. Security personnel have been deployed around the area.
Delhi Police said on Monday that Jantar Mantar had been removed from the list of designated protest venues.
Demonstrations were held in New Delhi on Wednesday. Police detained protesters and bundled them into buses.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke called on supporters to gather on Friday in Connaught Place, near Jantar Mantar.
#Delhi : CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke announced a fresh protest on October 16 at 5 PM at Central Park, Connaught Place, with the message “Lehra Do Tiranga.”
#Delhi #CJP #AbhijeetDipke #ConnaughtPlace #BreakingNews https://t.co/VpKVtYN0V6— Lokmat Times Nagpur (@LokmatTimes_ngp) October 14, 2026
He also urged people unable to travel to the capital to organise marches in their own cities.
“And those who cannot come to Delhi, take out a march in your own cities and tell these people… that our flag is our pride and waving it is not a crime,” Dipke said on social media.
Dipke had earlier praised Ranka and Das for their defiance of the authorities.
He said they had “shown the entire country that the only way to stand up to a bully like Modi is to never bow down, no matter the consequences”.
Jailing Youth an Act of Cowardice
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi of the Congress party backed the detained protest leaders, rejecting the suggestion that waving the national flag at a peaceful demonstration constituted an offence.
“Waving the Tricolour at Jantar Mantar in a peaceful protest is not a crime,” Gandhi said in a social media post. “Jailing youth for it is an act of cowardice.”
Waving the Tricolour at Jantar Mantar in a peaceful protest is not a crime. Jailing youth for it is an act of cowardice.
Students. Youth. Journalists. The INDIA bloc. Different banners, one cause. All protests are one: citizens demanding their constitutional rights.
Jantar Mantar belongs to the people of India. We will reclaim it.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 14, 2026
India’s government has faced criticism from rights advocates and political opponents over its record on civil liberties during more than a decade in power under Modi.
Critics have cited alleged pressure on journalists, civil society groups and political opponents.
This is AISA activist Danish Ali, speaking live about Delhi Police brutality – when, right in the middle of her account, Delhi’s women police officers barge in to prove her right https://t.co/Y6ftCKbrMv
— Dr. SP (@sphavisha) October 14, 2026
Human Rights Watch called on the Indian government on Wednesday to uphold citizens’ right to peaceful protest.
“The Modi government should stop throwing young protesters in jail and instead engage with them to address concerns over the right to vote and fairness of elections,” the rights group said in a statement.
Police in New Delhi arrested leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party after they climbed over gates to enter Jantar Mantar, a site in central New Delhi that lost its status as an official protest venue a day earlier https://t.co/StyEu4TJrZ https://t.co/2GP1Lhv4yI
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 13, 2026
Protester Alleges Police Assault
A woman who identified herself only as Atira said on Wednesday that police had taken her to a detention centre and beaten her.
“They punched me here,” she said, pointing to her face at a news conference in New Delhi alongside Gandhi.
LIVE: Media Bite | 10 Janpath, New Delhi https://t.co/OScZ2qfe1m
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 14, 2026
“I begged them to stop, but then they started kicking me in my private parts, lower abdomen, and back. They didn’t consider me as a human.”
The protests centre on an electoral-roll revision exercise that began last year and has resulted in more than 133 million names being removed from voter lists.
Critics say the exercise has disproportionately affected minorities, particularly Muslims.
Election authorities say the revision was intended to eliminate duplicate, deceased and fraudulent entries.
