Indian police crack down on 'Cockroach' protest in Delhi

Key Points:

• Indian authorities deployed 43,000 police and security personnel in New Delhi, imposed internet shutdowns, and suspended metro and railway services to block a protest called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) against voter list revisions.
• Key opposition leaders, including CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal, and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, were detained amid a police crackdown that also targeted journalists and lawyers covering the protests.
• Protesters accuse the voter list revision overseen by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of disenfranchising millions to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling BJP, a claim rejected by the Election Commission as a cleanup of duplicate voters.
• Opposition figures condemned the crackdown as authoritarian, with comparisons to India’s 1970s Emergency period, while the BJP accused opposition leaders of inciting unrest and alleged foreign interference without providing evidence.
• Despite detentions and heavy security, the CJP appointed interim leader Ajinkya Shinde to continue mobilizing protests, urging supporters to persist in their demonstrations at Jantar Mantar and other locations in Delhi.