India’s Cockroach movement says members detained as protests continue

India’s Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), joined by several student organisations and allied political groups, said authorities detained large numbers of activists on Thursday as nationwide protests continued over revisions to the electoral rolls. The movement has called for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and is planning a major march to Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Saturday.

CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka posted on X that "at least 10,000" people from protests and affiliated groups had been detained across the country, and the party said its national spokesman Deepak Baliyan was among those taken into custody. Al Jazeera noted it could not independently verify the detention figures; videos shared on social media show activists being loaded into police vans.

The protests centre on the Election Commission’s decision to remove over 130 million names from voter lists — a process the commission says aims to eliminate duplicate and ineligible entries. Opponents, including the CJP and several student groups, contend the revisions disproportionately affect voters who support opposition parties and therefore benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. The commission and the government reject those accusations, saying the exercise is administrative and nonpartisan.

Rallies were reported in multiple cities this week, including large demonstrations in Bengaluru where students and young activists carried signs reading slogans such as "Every name counts, Every vote matters." The protests have included high-profile political figures: opposition leader Rahul Gandhi was briefly detained on Wednesday for the third time in two days, according to his party, while police and ruling party spokespeople have pushed back against accusations of heavy-handed tactics.

CJP also reported that a group of students travelling from Pune to participate in New Delhi protests were detained and taken to an unknown location. The situation remains fluid ahead of Saturday’s planned demonstrations, with both organisers and authorities continuing to mobilise.