Thousands march in New Delhi demanding election chief Gyanesh Kumar step down

Thousands march on the Election Commission

Thousands of protesters gathered on Monday, 12 October, in central New Delhi under heavy police watch, demanding that Election Commission head Gyanesh Kumar resign. The opposition and the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a youth movement created online to channel anger among Generation Z, have been mobilized for weeks against a revision of the electoral rolls. Critics say the review favours Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and targets minorities, particularly Muslims, and other vulnerable groups. The Election Commission and its chairman have denied any irregularity. Media reports cited by RFI and SAPO say the review, begun in 2025, has removed about 130 million registered voters from the rolls.

Weekend detentions and a fortified capital

Security forces carried out thousands of detentions on Saturday, 10 October, and Sunday, 11 October, with more than 20,000 detained according to local press. Barricades blocked every arterial road leading to Jantar Mantar, the long-standing protest site, and on Monday police announced that it can no longer be used for rallies and that three other sites will replace it. Mobile internet was blocked, public transport was suspended and central streets stayed closed to traffic over the weekend, according to RTS and SAPO. AP photographs showed rows of orange buses, prepared by authorities to carry away protesters, parked along main roads while camouflaged soldiers stood beside yellow barricades. The timeline below traces the weekend and Monday's march.

Detention of CJP leaders

Abhijeet Dipke, the CJP founder, and two other CJP leaders were detained on arriving by plane in New Delhi on Saturday and held for 24 hours in police custody, RTS reports. RFI reports that they were released after 24 hours, along with most of the other detained protesters. After his release Dipke wrote on X that Modi was a disgrace to India and that the country had never seen a worse coward or brute. Many lawmakers and protesters have accused the security forces of violence. On Monday Dipke asked why Gyanesh Kumar was so indispensable to Modi that the government was prepared to take on everyone.

Opposition march toward the Supreme Court

Rahul Gandhi, the Congress leader and head of the opposition, called on supporters to march to the Supreme Court, and Bloomberg reported that hundreds of opposition leaders and party workers marched through central New Delhi with Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Gandhi said the campaign would not end until the Constitution is respected. He showed a letter addressed to Chief Justice Surya Kant, written jointly with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, setting out concerns about Kumar's alleged conduct and the contested revision. Gandhi said Kant had suggested they submit a petition, which they would file at the end of the march. Kant told journalists that he had declined a meeting for certain reasons that were not specified, and said:

Every Indian citizen has the right to approach the Court, and we will listen to concerns and reasons, ensuring what is provided by law.

Background and next steps

The CJP was created online in May to channel student anger over the education system, and in May the mobilization contributed to the departure of Dharmendra Pradhan, now a former education minister. The CJP said on Sunday, 11 October, that the protest will continue until Kumar resigns. The opposition plans to file its petition once the march ends. Kumar's resignation remains the central demand of both the opposition and the CJP, and the police have replaced the Jantar Mantar protest site with three other locations.