NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing renewed nationwide protests led by students and young activists over a controversial revision of electoral rolls that has removed more than 130 million voters to benefit the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The protests, driven by the youth-led ‘Cockroach Janta Party’ (CJP) movement, have spread to several cities and drawn support from opposition parties, student groups and civil society organisations.
The young protesters pose a fresh political challenge to Modi in his third term, as critics question the neutrality of the Election Commission of India and allege that the voter verification exercise could disadvantage opposition parties.
The Election Commission denies favouring any political party. It says the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is intended to remove deceased, duplicate and otherwise ineligible entries from the electoral roll.
Opposition leaders say the exercise has disproportionately affected minority communities and voters likely to support parties opposed to Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Protests Spread Amid Police Crackdown
The campaign has intensified in recent days, with demonstrations in New Delhi and Bengaluru and opposition leaders joining calls for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign.
Thousands of supporters of the CJP movement and student groups demonstrated in Bengaluru on Thursday.
The rally came a day after opposition leader Rahul Gandhi was briefly detained by police during a protest in New Delhi. Images of officers dragging Gandhi towards a vehicle circulated widely on social media.
Gandhi’s Congress party and other opposition lawmakers also staged protests in the capital, demanding action over the voter roll revision.
The campaign has gathered momentum since an Indian Express investigation last month reported that two fellow election commissioners had raised objections to the process and that Kumar had not acted on their concerns.
Opposition parties say the revision risks excluding eligible voters. They have also questioned the procedures for restoring names to the electoral rolls, arguing that confusing requirements and a lack of older government documents could make appeals difficult for some people.
Those whose names have been removed can appeal, but critics say the process could prevent eligible voters from exercising their rights if their registrations are not restored in time.
Police Detain Protesters, Youth Leaders
The demonstrations have also led to hundreds of detentions in New Delhi.
Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the CJP, was released on Saturday, a day after police detained him as he attempted to join a protest rally in the capital’s Connaught Place area. The movement announced his release on social media.
Indian police detained All India Students’ Association (AISA) president and activist Neha Bora, Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, and other student leaders on October 16 ahead of a planned protest march in New Delhi.
The youth-led movement, opposition groups, and student organisations have held near-daily protests demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over a voter-roll revision that removed more than 130 million names. They say it favoured Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP
— TRT World (@trtworld) October 16, 2026
In a post on Instagram, Dipke said he had expected to face jail and was prepared for the consequences of returning to India. He said he had placed his fate in the hands of the Indian people and the country’s Constitution.
All India Students’ Association President Neha Bora, who was detained during a protest in New Delhi on Friday, was released later that evening.
Two other senior CJP leaders, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, were arrested on October 14 for entering Jantar Mantar, a long-standing protest site in central Delhi. They were placed in judicial custody for five days, due to end on Sunday.
The CJP warned of legal action if the two were not released. Dipke also called for their freedom in a social media post.
Police had heavily barricaded Jantar Mantar ahead of the latest demonstrations, restricting access to the site as authorities prepared for further protests.
Youth Movement Gains Political Prominence
The CJP emerged from an online youth campaign in May, using a satirical name drawn from a social media meme. It later organised street demonstrations, sit-ins and hunger strikes over examination paper leaks.
That earlier campaign, with the resignation of Modi’s education minister in July, after leaked questions for a college entrance examination led to its cancellation and triggered student anger.
The movement has since shifted its focus towards the voter roll revision and demands Kumar’s resignation.
Its participation has helped bring young protesters into a broader campaign involving established opposition parties and student organisations.
Gandhi has also become a prominent figure in the demonstrations. He has long warned that democratic rights and institutions are under pressure under Modi.
His recent participation in protests has offered him an opportunity to align himself with a younger generation challenging the government.
The Congress and other opposition parties lost ground in several previous elections but made gains in the 2024 general election, when the BJP failed to secure an outright parliamentary majority for the first time under Modi.
Controversial Electoral Roll Revision
The SIR has been conducted across most Indian states and federally administered territories. More than 130 million names have been removed from the electoral rolls since the exercise began last year.
The scale of the removals has become a central point of contention. Opposition parties say the deletions could affect millions of eligible voters and disproportionately harm communities and groups less likely to support the BJP.
The controversy has also raised questions about the appeals process. Critics say some people may struggle to provide the documents required to restore their names, particularly if they lack older official records.
The latest protests come as Modi faces mounting criticism over governance and political accountability midway through his third term.
His party’s failure to win a parliamentary majority in 2024 weakened its position compared with previous elections, although it retained power through its coalition.
The CJP has called for further demonstrations in New Delhi, with protesters expected to seek access to Jantar Mantar. Police have already barricaded the area ahead of the planned rallies.
