Delhi lockdown as police detain protesters and CJP leaders ahead of voter list rally

Delhi was placed under tight security on Saturday as police detained scores of protesters and several prominent activists, with thousands of security personnel deployed and transport and telecommunications services disrupted ahead of a youth-led rally demanding the resignation of India’s chief election commissioner.

The protest, organised by the self-described youth-led Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), aimed to draw thousands of demonstrators against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over a revision of electoral rolls that critics allege favours Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Protesters had planned to gather at Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site in central New Delhi, at 10am on Saturday. About 200 protesters were detained in the area, a police source told Reuters. A police spokesperson said those detained outside Delhi included popular YouTuber Dhruv Rathee.

Police also detained CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke ahead of the rally, the party said. News networks reported that officers confronted him at Delhi airport after he arrived from Mumbai and asked him to call off the protest. CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were also detained after their flight landed, the movement said in a statement.

Security measures included the closure of metro stations and markets and the suspension of mobile internet services. Reuters witnesses said police boarded buses and searched cars and other vehicles for protesters, while barricades and concrete blocks obstructed traffic.

Anti-riot vehicles equipped with tear gas launchers were stationed along key routes across the capital, according to the witnesses.

Television footage showed police chasing several dozen young protesters in New Delhi’s central business district. Some were carrying backpacks before officers loaded them into vehicles and took them away.

The rally was called to demand Kumar’s resignation over the revision of voter lists, which critics say could benefit the BJP. The BJP and the Election Commission have denied allegations of wrongdoing.