India's Cockroach Janata Party protests voter roll removals; hundreds detained

India's Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) has launched a new round of protests linked to the removal of voters' names from the country's electoral rolls. Protesters are demanding the resignation of India's election chief. Other protest groups joined the rallies. People were detained in the capital, New Delhi, and hundreds were detained in India in connection with the protests. Each point is reported by at least two of Al Jazeera, Anadolu and Daily Sabah.

According to Daily Sabah, the New Delhi detentions took place on Friday, 2 October 2026, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Citing Indian media reports it does not name, the outlet said Delhi police detained more than 700 people, including Aam Aadmi Party leaders and student activists.

Al Jazeera reported that the rallies led to scuffles in the capital. Daily Sabah said authorities restricted gatherings and deployed large numbers of police and paramilitary personnel around Jantar Mantar, a traditional protest site. Protesters were taken away in buses after trying to reach the restricted area, and several nearby metro stations were closed, it said.

In Mumbai, hundreds of CJP supporters gathered at Shivaji Park and chanted for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, according to Daily Sabah.

The demonstrations centre on the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, a nationwide exercise that began in 2025 and involves verifying voter eligibility, according to Daily Sabah. The outlet said more than 130 million names have been removed from draft rolls, citing figures from Amnesty International and other reports.

Daily Sabah also said The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi raised concerns on multiple occasions over a 10-month period about voter additions and deletions, registration procedures and electoral technology.

What is disputed

The CJP and the Election Commission give opposing accounts of the revision. Whether eligible voters were wrongly removed is not established in the reports reviewed by Vocemundi.

What each side says

• CJP and protesters: Al Jazeera reported that the CJP's protest follows the allegedly improper removal of millions of voters, without saying who makes the allegation. Protesters say the process could deprive eligible citizens of their right to vote, according to Daily Sabah. The CJP says it will continue its campaign until Kumar resigns. Daily Sabah quoted CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke as saying: "Voters are supposed to choose a government, now the government is choosing voters".
• Election Commission of India, as relayed by Daily Sabah: The revision is intended to remove deceased, duplicate and otherwise ineligible voters, not to disenfranchise eligible citizens. It rejects allegations of political manipulation and says its actions follow the law.
• Opposition parties and activists, according to Daily Sabah: The scale of the revisions risks wrongly excluding eligible voters and could disproportionately affect poorer and marginalized communities. They question the transparency of the process.
• Amnesty International, as relayed by Daily Sabah: Peaceful protest does not depend on government approval, and detentions should have a lawful basis.

The reports include no official figures for detentions or removed names. They include no direct statement from Delhi police, the Indian government or Kumar. They do not say whether those detained were released or charged.

Analysis

The protests bring together a movement that began as online satire, opposition politicians and civil society groups around a single demand. How the dispute develops may depend on information the reports do not yet contain: official figures on removed names, the fate of those detained, and any response from the election chief. The CJP has called for demonstrations in other cities, and opposition parties are organizing separate ones, according to Daily Sabah. The protests could widen, or the Election Commission's explanation of the revision could gain acceptance. Most detail currently rests on a single outlet, so the picture may change as more reporting emerges.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.