Indian authorities have detained more than 100 protesters in New Delhi as demonstrations entered a second day over alleged irregularities in the country’s voter registration process.
The protesters are demanding the resignation of Election Commission of India chief Gyanesh Kumar, accusing the electoral body of allowing changes to voter rolls that they claim could benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
The demonstrations have received support from several opposition groups, including the youth-driven Cockroach Janta Party, which has emerged as a prominent voice in the campaign.
A large contingent of police officers was deployed on Saturday around Jantar Mantar, an officially designated protest ground in central New Delhi. Access to the area was restricted with barricades as authorities sought to prevent protesters from gathering there.
Indian media reported that more than 100 demonstrators were taken into custody while attempting to protest against Kumar and demand changes to the electoral process.
Cockroach Janta Party leader Abhijeet Dipke condemned the police action, accusing authorities of targeting students and activists exercising their right to protest.
“Delhi Police must stop its crackdown on protesting students and activists,” Dipke said in a social media post.
He added that attempts to suppress peaceful demonstrations would only encourage more people to join the protests.
“Dissent is a democratic right. It cannot be crushed through intimidation or force,” he said.
The Delhi Police did not confirm the reported number of detainees but said demonstrations around Jantar Mantar were subject to prior authorisation.
“No permission has been granted for any protest scheduled for today… nor has any prior intimation regarding any such protest been received by New Delhi District Police,” the police said.
Activist Yogendra Yadav also criticised the restrictions, questioning the ability of citizens to express dissent if they could not do so even at a designated protest venue.
“If a designated protest site cannot accommodate peaceful dissent, where does democracy leave room for protest?” he said.
The demonstrations followed a report by The Indian Express last month alleging irregularities in a large-scale revision of electoral rolls, which reportedly resulted in millions of names being removed.
The Election Commission has rejected the allegations of wrongdoing, while Kumar has yet to publicly respond to the claims.
The protests began on Friday, when hundreds of demonstrators gathered on roads surrounding Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and at Shivaji Park in Mumbai.
The Mumbai protest marked one of the largest public demonstrations by the Cockroach Janta Party since July. The group, which started as a satirical online movement in May, gained national attention after its campaign contributed to the removal of the education minister in July.
Authorities were also accused of restricting mobile internet services around protest locations on Friday, similar to measures reportedly imposed during the July demonstrations.
During those protests, demonstrators reportedly relied on alternative communication platforms to remain connected despite the internet restrictions.
Among the applications used was Bitchat, a peer-to-peer messaging platform that enables nearby users to communicate through Bluetooth without requiring an internet connection.
US technology entrepreneur Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, now X, and developer of Bitchat, said the application had been removed from Apple’s App Store in India following an order from New Delhi.
Dorsey shared a screenshot of an Apple notification stating that the application contained material considered illegal in India. The Indian government had not immediately commented on the reported removal.
Opposition groups have announced plans for further demonstrations, including a march to the Election Commission’s headquarters in New Delhi on Tuesday, followed by nationwide “Save Democracy” rallies.
The Cockroach Janta Party has also called for a major mobilisation of young Indians in New Delhi on October 10, with other opposition parties and activists backing the planned demonstrations.
