India detains protest leaders, others ahead of rally demanding Election Chief’s resignation
- Authorities deployed around 43,000 police and security personnel across Delhi, erected barricades and imposed restrictions on metro and railway services. Internet services were also suspended in parts of central Delhi. Police had not authorised the rally.
Indian police detained leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and hundreds of other protesters ahead of a planned rally in New Delhi demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over revisions to voter lists.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and party leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained after arriving in the capital, the party said. Police reportedly detained more than 500 people attempting to reach the planned protest site at Jantar Mantar.
Authorities deployed around 43,000 police and security personnel across Delhi, erected barricades and imposed restrictions on metro and railway services. Internet services were also suspended in parts of central Delhi. Police had not authorised the rally.
Despite the detentions, the CJP said it would proceed with the demonstration under interim leader Ajinkya Shinde. The party also alleged that its detained leaders had been taken to an undisclosed location and denied access to lawyers.
The detentions extended to lawyers protesting near the Supreme Court, prompting the Supreme Court Bar Association to call for urgent intervention by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant. The association expressed concern over the reported use of excessive force and called for the safety and whereabouts of detained advocates to be established.
Opposition leaders criticised the security crackdown. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor questioned the scale of the deployment and the internet restrictions, while Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal also condemned the arrests. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi renewed his demand for Kumar’s resignation.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party accused opposition leaders of attempting to inflame tensions. BJP president Nitin Nabin alleged that their actions threatened stability, while suggesting that foreign forces were involved but offering no evidence in the remarks cited by the report.
