Thousands of young people have been detained in Delhi following protests over electoral rights, with the government accused of a heavy-handed crackdown. Over the weekend, the government reportedly locked up thousands of young people and detained journalists during demonstrations led by the Gen Z Cockroach Janta party (CJP).
Abhijeet Dipke, who launched the CJP in May, was detained with other leaders upon landing in Delhi. Those who took to the streets were reportedly roughed up by police or taken into custody. This occurred despite a Supreme Court order for peaceful assembly to be protected.
On Monday, thousands marched in Delhi, demanding the resignation of India’s election chief. This follows reports that the names of more than 130 million voters were deleted from the electoral roll, allegedly to benefit Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) in recent elections. India’s election commission denies this charge, though some commissioners have raised concerns about voters’ names being removed without their knowledge.
The BJP won state elections in West Bengal for the first time after 2.7 million voters were officially struck off the rolls. In many seats won by the BJP, the number of deleted or disputed voters reportedly exceeded the margin of victory. Courts have stated that the missing voters could cast their ballots in future elections.