Police have detained India's 'cockroach' movement founder Abhijeet Dipke, student leaders and supporters, as hundreds poured into central Delhi demanding the resignation of India's election chief.
Mr Dipke had called for yesterday's protest in support of two Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders who were jailed this week for demonstrating at a protest site in violation of a ban.
He was picked up as he stepped out of a house in central Delhi, with police hauling him into a car and driving away after a brief argument.
Senior police officer Sachin Sharma told Reuters that Mr Dipke had been taken into "preventive detention".
A CJP post on X that criticised Mr Dipke's detention read: "This government is so scared of the youth waving national flag."
The youth-led "cockroach" movement alleges the electoral roll revision favoured the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in recent elections. (Reuters: Bhawika Chhabra)
By Friday night, Connaught Place in the centre of the city was packed with police and paramilitary forces holding guns, batons and tear gas launchers.
They vastly outnumbered the protesters that turned up, who were hemmed in by dozens of empty buses, and threatened to detain demonstrators who refused to follow police orders.
For almost two weeks, New Delhi's CBD has become a fortress as protesters from the youth-led CJP, student unions, and federal opposition politicians continue to call for India's Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign.
More than 130 million voters were deleted from electoral rolls during a revision which the protesters allege favoured Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Cockroach Janta Party spokesperson, Mehr Parsicha says the protests were prompted after two party leaders were jailed last week. (ABC News: Rachel Clayton)
The Election Commission has denied favouring any party and said wrongly deleted voters can re-enrol.
The BJP has accused rivals of trying to undermine democracy by wrongly questioning legitimate electoral processes.
Protesters furious at arrests
Spokesperson for the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), Mehr Parsicha, said the organisation had called for the protest after two CJP leaders were jailed last week for five days after entering Jantar Mantar to wave the Indian flag.
Jantar Mantar has been New Delhi's central protest location for decades but was taken off the list of official sites last week by Delhi police.
CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Kumar had jumped a fence to enter the location, and were accused of breaching bond conditions they had agreed to last weekend after being briefly detained when they flew into New Delhi to attend a protest.
Police detained India's 'cockroach' movement founder Abhijeet Dipke ahead of the protests on Friday. (ABC News: Rachel Clayton)
"Technically it's a public space and our leaders went to unfurl the national flag. What is wrong with unfurling the national flag? Today has been called to contest that," Ms Parsicha said.
"It's a police state and for what reason? That young people want to get their voice out? Is that what it's come to?"
Ms Parsicha said the federal BJP government was trying to silence young people.
"The thing with silencing voices is that dissent grows. Someone needs to advise the government that this is not a good game plan," she said.
Protester Amit Jaiswal wants the government to address allegations about the electoral roll revisions. (ABC News: Rachel Clayton)
Amit Jaiswal lives in Delhi and said the chief election commissioner needed to front the press and the public to answer questions about the reforms underway to India's electoral rolls.
"He has questions to answer. That's how democracy works,"
he said.
Mr Jaiswal said "the beauty of India" being the world's largest democracy and the country's "very strong voting process" were under threat.
"If one name is deleted [from voter rolls], who has to answer [for it]? The answer has to come from the commissioner — and that is the guy who is not speaking."
Youth used as pawns, BJP says
The cockroach movement has emerged as one of the biggest political challenges faced by Modi and his BJP in his 12 years in power.
A weeks-long sit-in by its supporters earlier this year forced Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation over exam paper leaks.
The latest demonstrations erupted after the Indian Express newspaper reported that Kumar's two deputies had raised concerns internally about voter list changes, registration procedures and digital systems.
The 130 million names removed from voter lists starting last year included 28 million people who had died, 63 million who relocated, and 30 million who could not be traced, according to the Election Commission.
Opposition parties allege the deletions disproportionately affect Muslims and other minorities who are unlikely to support the Hindu nationalist ruling party, allegations the commission and the BJP reject.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the demonstrations were the main opposition Congress party's attempt to "seize power".
"Instead of channelling the energy of the youth toward nation-building, they are being used as pawns in the politics of anarchy," he said at a media briefing yesterday.
ABC/Reuters