India’s ‘Cockroach’ party protest over voter fraud gains ground

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday defended India as a “mother of democracy,” as protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged voter fraud are intensifying.

“A wide range of issues are debated openly, and diverse perspectives are discussed by the people,” Modi said, speaking at a Bloomberg New Economy event. His comments coincide with a severe crackdown by authorities against protestors demanding electoral reforms.  

Earlier today, key members of the viral pseudo-political movement, Cockroach Janta Party, were detained for protesting without permission.

CJP, whose leaders were detained by authorities over the weekend as well, had sought permission from Delhi Police on Monday to launch fresh protests at the Jantar Mantar grounds in the capital. However, the government then barred the use of the site for protests.

On Monday, thousands of people reportedly joined leaders of Indian opposition parties in their march to the Supreme Court in Delhi to file a petition against revisions made to the voter list by the Election Commission.

Names of 130 million people have been struck off from the voter list after the commission began conducting “special intensive revisions” (SIR) to update voter lists across the country last year, as per several local media reports.

Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in India, said the huge crowds were a sign that people were not going to be “intimidated” by the government.

“There are no parallel protests. It’s one protest, and it’s a protest where everybody is standing together,” Gandhi said, dismissing concerns over the absence of members of the Cockroach Janta Party who had called for protests over the weekend.

“Delhi is once again flooded with people standing up to save democracy,” Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the viral pseudo-political movement, CJP, said in a post, reacting to the crowd amassed for the march led by Gandhi.