Two leaders of India’s Cockroach Janta Party have been jailed for five days after entering Delhi’s ‘Jantar Mantar’ protest site to demand the election chief’s resignation. The previously designated protest area recently lost its status as an authorised protest venue.
Published On 14 Oct 202614 Oct 2026
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A court in Indian capital Delhi has released the top leaders of the Gen Z-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) as the city sees more protests for a second day with thousands of security personnel deployed and roads barricaded.
Abhijeet Dipke – who began the movement in May after India’s Chief Justice likened some jobless young people to “cockroaches” – and other leaders were arrested on arrival in Delhi on Saturday to lead protests seeking electoral reforms.
In his first comments after his release, Dipke said “the CJP will neither back down nor be intimidated”.
On Saturday, media reports said, 7,000 demonstrators were detained and released late at night.
The CJP – which is not registered as a political party in India – is seeking electoral reforms just months before crucial state elections.
It has also demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of manipulating voters’ lists – which the Election Commission has denied.
On Sunday morning, the CJP lawyer Ratna Singh said she had been informed by the police that Dipke and two other senior CJP leaders – Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka – would be produced before the magistrate by the police seeking their remand “to maintain public peace”.
She subsequently posted on X that the three had been set free by the court “on the condition that they will not engage in breach of peace for one year” – she later deleted the post about the condition and it’s not clear what that means and whether the CJP leaders can take part in protests.
After his release, Dipke posted on X, external, saying: “Modi, as PM, is an embarrassment to India.”
In another post, external, he said he was going to his village to attend his grandmother’s funeral who died around the time of his arrest yesterday.
“Heading back to my village to be with my family during this moment of grief,” he posted, adding that Das and Ranka would address a press conference in Delhi.
“The CJP will neither back down nor be intimidated,” he added.
Saturday saw dramatic scenes as police officials boarded the flight to detain Dipke, Das and Ranka as their plane landed.
Hundreds of protesters have reportedly been detained in Delhi during the latest demonstration by the Gen-Z led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) over electoral reforms.
The group said its founder Abhijeet Dipke, who began the movement in May after India’s Chief Justice likened some jobless young people to “cockroaches”, was detained with other leaders shortly after landing in Delhi.
Tens of thousands of security personnel were deployed and roads barricaded ahead of the demonstration, though the CJP insisted it would go ahead.
Delhi Police has not commented on the detentions, but had refused permission for the protest to take place at Jantar Mantar, a landmark in the Indian capital.
The group – who are not registered as a political party in India – are seeking electoral reforms just months before crucial state elections.
It has also demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of manipulating voters’ lists – which the Election Commission has denied.
Under Kumar’s leadership, India’s election commission has undertaken a mammoth exercise to update electoral rolls nationwide – it said this was a routine exercise to weed out dead, duplicate or ineligible voters.
But in many states, the exercise has been shrouded in controversy, with tens of thousands of people alleging they have been wrongly removed.
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.
Before arriving in Delhi, the CJP’s founder Dipke said: “If you think you can stop us by threatening us with jail or trying to intimidate us with the fear of imprisonment, you are mistaken.”
He and and two other leaders, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, were detained on their flight from Mumbai on Saturday.
The group claimed the three men have been taken to an undisclosed location. Delhi Police have not commented.
Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke and other leaders detained before protest to demand election chief’s resignation.
Published On 10 Oct 202610 Oct 2026
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India’s Cockroach Janta Party says its members have been subjected to mass arrests across India ahead of Saturday’s protest in New Delhi. Protesters are demanding the election panel chief’s resignation over alleged irregularities in voter-list revisions that critics say benefited Modi’s BJP.
Published On 9 Oct 20269 Oct 2026
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India’s Cockroach Janta Party has launched a new protest demanding change after millions of voters were allegedly improperly removed from electoral rolls. Other protest movements joined the rallies, which led to scuffles and arrests in the capital.
Published On 3 Oct 20263 Oct 2026
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India is facing growing discontent among its youth and they are taking to the streets. One Indian artist tells Al Jazeera the Modi government changed his voting status and had his Instagram post taken down. Now he’ll join thousands expected at a Cockroach Janta Party-led protest demanding change.
Published On 2 Oct 20262 Oct 2026
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India’s youth-led Cockroach Janta Party has joined opposition calls for election chief Gyanesh Kumar to resign, giving him 48 hours before it launches nationwide protests. The pressure follows reports of internal objections over changes to voter lists.
Published On 25 Sep 202625 Sep 2026
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Youth group threatens return to mass protests, sets deadline for Gyanesh Kumar to quit due to reports of meddling with voter lists.
By Al Jazeera Staff and Reuters
Published On 25 Sep 202625 Sep 2026
India’s ‘cockroach’ party youth movement has threatened to launch nationwide protests unless the country’s chief election officer does not resign by Saturday.
Founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), Abhijeet Dipke, announced on Friday that protests would begin in Mumbai on October 2 – if Gyanesh Kumar does not step down.
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The CJP, a satirical outfit born on Instagram in May after India’s chief justice compared unemployed young Indians to “cockroaches” and “parasites”, has shaken the staunchly conservative government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On Thursday, the group demanded that Kumar quit within 48 hours, following a newspaper report linking him to altered voter lists. Opposition parties say the lists have been manipulated to benefit Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“If Gyanesh Kumar does not resign by tomorrow, CJP will begin its nationwide protest from Mumbai on 2 October, and take it to cities across India,” Dipke posted on X.
“This Gandhi Jayanti let’s pledge to save democracy,” he added, referring to the October 2 holiday marking independence leader Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday.
On Wednesday, the Indian Express newspaper reported that two election commissioners had raised questions or voiced concern with Kumar at least 14 times in 10 months, mostly over the process of updating voter lists that began last year.
The main opposition Congress party announced protest marches on state election offices across India on Friday, demanding Kumar’s arrest, his removal and an independent review of decisions and voter-list changes made under him.
Opposition parties have long accused the commission of deleting the names of millions of voters without warning and adding new voters without verification to favour the BJP.
The Election Commission of India said that “differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberation in any institution” and that all its actions were lawful.
The BJP has defended the commission, accusing the opposition of a smear campaign because it keeps losing elections.
“Neither the Election Commission of India nor any constitutional body in India is under dictatorial rule,” BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said on Wednesday.
CJP-led protests in July forced the resignation of Modi’s education minister over exam-paper leaks, one of the prime minister’s biggest political setbacks since coming to power in 2014.