NEW DELHI: India's "cockroach" youth movement leaders were detained on Tuesday after they jumped barricades to enter a historic Delhi site popular for protests, demanding that the chief election commissioner resign over a revision of voter lists. Supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and opposition groups have held almost daily protests this month to demand commissioner Gyanesh Kumar stand down over the revisions critics say favour Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by removing the names of millions of voters.
The Election Commission has denied favouring any party and said wrongly deleted voters can re-enrol, while the BJP has accused rivals of trying to undermine democracy by wrongly questioning legitimate electoral processes.
Thousands joined a protest march by opposition groups, after a clampdown foiled CJP plans for a weekend demonstration, with police detaining thousands of protesters, including CJP leaders. Delhi Police announced that the Jantar Mantar open air observatory, in the national capital's central business district, was no longer designated as an official protest site. The CJP said its leaders Ashutosh Ranka, Saurav Das, and Ajinkya Shinde were among about 20 people who "sneaked" inside the observatory to "reclaim" it and were detained. — Reuters
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