Delhi Police Detain Cockroach Movement Leaders and Thousands of Protesters
Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained after landing in Delhi from Mumbai, and police then broke up Saturday’s march before it could reach Jantar Mantar. Associated Press reporting says thousands were detained, opposition MPs among them, and gatherings of five or more were banned in parts of the capital. A spokesman for Narendra Modi’s party dismissed the demonstrators as “anarchic elements”.
The movement wants the chief election commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, to resign over a revision of the voter rolls that has removed more than 130 million names; the Election Commission says it is clearing duplicate and ineligible entries, and denies favouring the governing party. The opposition MP John Brittas asked: “Is there a democracy in this country? A total siege over the city.” He was later detained. Ajinkya Shinde, named leader while the others are held, told supporters that “wherever they stop you will become your Jantar Mantar”. The BBC puts the detentions in the hundreds; AP in the thousands. The electoral test comes next year, in state elections in Uttar Pradesh and Mr Modi’s home state of Gujarat.