More than 5,000 people, including several opposition leaders and former chief ministers, were detained in New Delhi on Saturday during protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in voter-list revisions.
Security forces imposed sweeping restrictions across parts of the Indian capital to prevent a rally organised by the Cockroach movement. Thousands of police and paramilitary personnel were deployed, mobile internet services were suspended in the central business district, and dozens of metro stations and markets were shut.
The protesters accuse the Election Commission of revising voter lists in a manner that could benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The commission and the BJP have denied allegations of wrongdoing.
The movement had planned to gather thousands of demonstrators at Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site in central Delhi. However, security forces sealed off the area before the rally could begin. Smaller demonstrations later broke out at other locations, including a crafts market and the memorial to independence leader Mahatma Gandhi.
According to the movement, those detained included former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, former Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar and Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) chief Abhijeet Dipke.
Opposition lawmakers, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, CJP senior leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, and All India Students' Association President Neha Bora were also reportedly detained after arriving in Delhi from Mumbai.
A Reuters witness saw police chasing protesters, dragging several people into buses and taking them away as more demonstrators arrived. Some protesters chanted slogans demanding Kumar's resignation.
"This is violating the rights of the people and the country will not tolerate this anymore," protester Yogendra Solanki told Reuters as police escorted him away.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi urged demonstrators to continue their protests despite the security crackdown.
"Youth of India, I am proud of you. Keep protesting. We are standing with you," Gandhi said in a statement.
Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk warned that he might launch a hunger strike or undertake a foot march if leaders detained ahead of the demonstration were not released by Sunday. He described the situation in India as an "undeclared emergency".
The movement condemned what it called the "authoritarian detention" of its leaders, demanded their immediate release and vowed to continue the protests.
Several journalists covering the demonstrations were also reportedly detained. Representatives of two digital news outlets said police briefly detained four of their reporters, while a Reuters journalist was held briefly before being released. Some lawyers protesting outside the Supreme Court were also picked up and later freed, according to the president of the court's bar association.
Police did not immediately comment on the detentions.
Security forces established checkpoints on major roads and at entry points to the capital, a city of around 20 million people. Officers searched buses and inspected vehicles, while barricades and concrete blocks restricted traffic. Anti-riot vehicles equipped with tear gas launchers were stationed along key routes.
The protests have intensified since last week, following a report by *The Indian Express* that two election commissioners had questioned and disagreed with Kumar over voter-list revisions that reportedly removed around 130 million names.
The controversy has become a major political challenge for Modi's government, with opposition parties alleging that the revisions could undermine electoral fairness ahead of state elections.
Senior Congress leader KC Venugopal accused the government of having "officially waged war against its own people" through the restrictions imposed on Saturday.
Meanwhile, sources said the opposition INDIA bloc was preparing to organise a major protest on Monday as tensions continued in the capital.
