Abhijeet Dipke, who established what members of the movement refer to as the "cockroach" campaign, was placed under arrest on Friday — one day before news of the detention appeared across multiple outlets — with the action occurring in the lead-up to a gathering in Delhi where hundreds assembled, waving the national flag and demanding the removal of the country's chief election official.
Two news outlets reported that Dipke was taken into custody as a precautionary measure against a potential public order disturbance, with an appearance before a Special Executive Magistrate scheduled for Saturday. No reply to an emailed query had come from Delhi police by the time of publication.
Demonstrations demanding the ouster of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar have unfolded on the majority of days this month, drawing in opposition parties, student bodies, and the Cockroach Janta Party — a formation with a notably younger membership base — all of whom contend that a recent voter-roll revision was designed in a way that favoured Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party.
Over the course of the electoral roll revision, records for upwards of 130 million registered voters were removed from the register. Responding to allegations of partisan favouritism, the Election Commission stated that no party had received preferential treatment and that voters removed from the rolls in error retain the right to register again.
The party lodged a formal complaint against opposition figures, contending that their challenges to the vote count amounted to an attack on the integrity of the electoral system.
Neha Bora, a student activist who had been taken into custody on Friday while attempting to enter central Delhi alongside dozens of supporters, was freed the following day, and called on authorities to protect the people of India. Following her release, Bora told a prominent television channel that removing Gyanesh Kumar from his position and suspending the special intensive revision process were steps she viewed as necessary to protect the voting rights of ordinary citizens and ease public concern.
On Friday, Dipke was taken into custody outside a residence in central Delhi, placed in a police vehicle following a brief exchange, and driven away. Two CJP leaders had been taken into custody and placed under a five-day remand earlier that week after gathering at a protest location where demonstrations were prohibited, and Dipke had convened Friday's rally in their support. That Friday morning, officers visited Dipke and conveyed a notice that the planned demonstration should not proceed.
The protest movement has emerged as one of the more consequential political tests confronting Modi and the BJP across the prime minister's dozen years at the helm. Protest action spanning several weeks by those backing the movement played a part in the departure of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan from his post, following disclosures of leaked examination papers.
