Court Frees ‘Cockroach’ Movement Leaders as Delhi Protests Enter Second Day

NEW DELHI — Indian police detained hundreds of protesters in Delhi for a second day on Sunday as sporadic demonstrations broke out demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, while a court ordered the release of “cockroach” movement founder Abhijeet Dipke and two other senior leaders, in the latest escalation of the nationwide youth-led agitation over voter list revisions.

FAKTA: Cockroach movement protests in Delhi

• What: Second day of protests in Delhi demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls
• When: Sunday, October 11, 2026 — protesters had also been detained on Saturday, October 10
• Released: Movement founder Abhijeet Dipke and two other Cockroach Janta Party leaders, detained when their plane landed in Delhi on Saturday, were freed by a court with an undertaking to “maintain public peace”
• Protests: Sporadic demonstrations on Sunday afternoon in Delhi; smaller protests also reported in Mumbai, Kolkata, Panaji and Pune
• Dispute: Protesters say the voter list revision dropped about 130 million voters from a draft roll; the Election Commission says flagged entries can be re-enrolled and denies wrongdoing
• Next: Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi called for a march to the Supreme Court on Monday, October 12

Second-day detentions in Delhi

Youth protesters, many of them from student organisations affiliated with India’s communist parties, launched sporadic protests around Delhi on Sunday afternoon before police detained them and took them away in vehicles, according to the Reuters news agency.

The All India Students’ Association alleged in a post on X that some of those detained were assaulted by police inside the vehicles. Reuters said it could not verify the claims about detainees being assaulted, and the Delhi Police spokesperson did not respond to calls seeking comment. One opposition lawmaker, John Brittas of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), was seen in a video appearing to be in distress as he was helped from a bus to an autorickshaw.

Smaller protests involving dozens of people were also held in the cities of Mumbai, Kolkata, Panaji and Pune, local media reported.

Cockroach leaders freed, vow to return to streets

Dipke, 31, and the other leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) were detained when their plane landed in Delhi on Saturday, as the movement planned to gather thousands of people at Jantar Mantar in central Delhi for a rally demanding the election chief’s resignation.

The court ordered their release with an undertaking to “maintain public peace”, the CJP said in a statement. After his release, Dipke told reporters the movement would “return to the streets”, signalling that the agitation would continue.

On Sunday, opposition leaders criticised the detentions. Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi called for citizens to join a march to the Supreme Court on Monday, October 12, over the police action and the voter list issue, the ANI news agency reported.

Responding to the agitation, Union minister Sukanta Majumdar dismissed the protests as opposition theatrics. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta accused the Congress, AAP, Left parties and the CJP of creating chaos during the protests in the capital, and praised the Delhi Police for handling the situation and ensuring public safety.

What the voter-list dispute is about

The protesters are calling for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision of voter lists, which critics say disproportionately affects certain groups of voters. According to the movement, about 130 million voters were dropped from a draft roll — a figure larger than the population of Japan.

The Election Commission has said the figure comprises entries flagged during the draft revision process and that voters wrongly removed from the rolls can enrol again. The panel has denied allegations of partisan manipulation.

The cockroach movement’s rise

The CJP grew out of a viral six-word response by Dipke, a political strategist born into a Dalit family, to remarks by Supreme Court Chief Justice Surya Kant likening unemployed youth to “cockroaches”. The satirical name was adopted by a nationwide youth movement that has mobilised protests in recent months over issues ranging from government school infrastructure to jobs for young people.

The movement’s sustained street campaign culminated in July in the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan — a rare exit from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet following public pressure. On October 2, CJP supporters gathered at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park demanding the election chief’s resignation, in a rally previously covered by Watan News.

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