India's 'Cockroaches' to march again after protest crackdown

October 16, 2026

What do we know about CJP's planned 'Tiranga March'?

With its previous mass demonstration foiled, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) is now campaigning to claim a right to protest — about 600 meters (1,970 feet) away from Jantar Mantar. 

Friday's planned protest, featuring the national flag, is scheduled to be held at 5 p.m. local time (1130 UTC) at Central Park in Connaught Place, a prime commercial hub in central Delhi. 

"Let's Gather In Large Numbers And Wave Our National Flag. Let's Stand In Support Of Ashutosh and Saurav!" the CJP said, referring to two of the movement's leaders currently being held in detention. 

The New Delhi Municipal Corporation, meanwhile, has shut down Central Park for two days, citing "administrative reasons."

Delhi Police said in a statement that prohibitory orders, aimed at maintaining peace and ensuring public safety, were in force in and around Connaught Place.

It called on protesters to not participate in any gathering that violates the orders. 

"However, the Delhi Police may consider making arrangements to permit a select group of individuals to gather at a suitable location for the purpose of carrying the national flag and singing the national anthem," Deputy Commissioner of Police Neha Yadav said.

Reports on Friday morning said that security at Connaught Place remains tight. A traffic advisory has been issued for the area.

On Thursday, the Delhi High Court declined to stop the CJP's Connaught Place protest.

"Do we need to take permission to wave our Indian flag?" the 'Cockroach' movement said in a post on X. The CJP posted an emoji of the Indian flag, saying it "belongs to the 1.3 Billion people of this country and not the Delhi police. We will wave it where we want!"

Meanwhile, another "Lehra Do Tiranga" rally called by the CJP in India's financial capital of Mumbai on Friday has received a go-ahead from the city police. The protest is expected to take place at Azad Maidan.

October 16, 2026

CJP scheduled to hold 'Tiranga' rally at Delhi's Connaught Place with Indian flag

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) is set to hold a march on Friday in the Indian capital named "Lehra Do Tiranga," which translates to "wave the tricolor." Tricolor refers to the Indian national flag, which has saffron, white and green bands.

The rally comes in support of two of the movement's leaders — Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das — who were sent to a five-day detention in prison on Wednesday over charges including alleged trespassing, violation of prohibitory orders and breach of a peace bond. 

A video shared by the CJP on Tuesday showed its co-conveners Das and Ranka, along with other activists of the collective, climbing a gate cordoned off with yellow police barricades. 

As they jumped to the other side of the gate, they were seen holding up the Indian flag and shouting slogans against India's election chief. The group is then seen being chased by police officials. 

"Imagine being jailed in your own country for waving your own national flag," CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke wrote on X on Thursday. 

CJP's Tuesday demonstration attempt took place at Jantar Mantar in central Delhi, a day after the site was removed as the official protest venue of the capital. 

It was also the same site where thousands of protesters attempted to march on October 10 to demand electoral reforms before being thwarted by Indian authorities.

Thousands of youth protesters, including CJP and student leaders, were detained after police denied permission to protest. The demonstrators have said that protest is a fundamental right.

The demonstrations are a part of a broader push —  including by opposition parties — for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the purging of tens of millions of names from India's electoral rolls. 

October 16, 2026

Welcome to our coverage

This is Dharvi Vaid Dhulia from DW's studio in New Delhi, bringing you our daily digest of all the biggest headlines that have got India talking. 

India's 'Cockroach' party is returning to central Delhi with another march almost a week after a protest rally by the youth-led movement was balked by a rare deployment of thousands of security personnel —  culminating in mass detentions. 

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has called on people to gather in large numbers and wave the national flag in Connaught Place in support of its leaders, who were sent to judicial custody for allegedly trespassing at a freshly delisted designated protest site. 

The Delhi Police has reiterated that prohibitory orders are in place at the key district and it could allow only a select group of people to gather at a suitable location for the purpose of carrying the flag. 

In other news, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Canada in December as the two countries look to shore up bilateral relations. 

And India has urged its nationals in Saudi Arabia to stay indoors and follow instructions from local authorities amid a spate of deadly aerial attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels. 

Stay tuned for all this and more.