New Delhi (AFP) – Protesters gathered in New Delhi and Bombay on Friday, including supporters of the “cockroaches” youth movement, to demand the resignation of the chairman of the Election Commission, amid alleged irregularities in the electoral rolls.

Published on: 02/10/2026 - 15:18Modified on: 02/10/2026 - 15:21

An investigation published last month by the daily The Indian Express revealed irregularities during a vast revision of the electoral rolls, which led to the removal of millions of names.

The Electoral Commission (ECI), long considered one of the most respected institutions in the country often nicknamed "the world's largest democracy", has rejected any accusation of irregularity in this process.

Opposition leaders accuse Gyanesh Kumar, the president of the ECI, of acting on the instructions of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the ultranationalist Hindu party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Members of opposition parties were briefly arrested by the police.

Jantar Mantar, a place officially reserved for demonstrations in the heart of the capital, was cordoned off by police behind barricades, while protesters gathered in the surrounding streets.

Mobile internet services have also been suspended in the area.

Supporters of the “Cockroach People's Party” (CJP), a youth movement that appeared on the internet in May, gathered at Shivaji Park, a vast park in central Bombay, for their first mobilization since July.

Their vast nationwide mobilization contributed to the fall of the Minister of Education.

October 2 is a public holiday in India marking the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The demonstrators claimed to adhere to its principles of peaceful protest.

Waving Indian flags, they chanted slogans against the Election Commission and demanded the resignation of its chairman, Gyanesh Kumar.

“Let’s save democracy”

“My motivation is our future,” Nidhi Sharma, a 19-year-old student at Delhi University, told AFP, “I have to be able to vote.”

Mina Giri, 38, who says she has lived in Delhi for 15 years and voted in previous elections, said her name had been removed from the lists.

“How can I be deprived of my fundamental right?” she asked.

Another protester, Imran, 18, said members of his family had also been removed from the lists.

“Because of this, we have difficulty obtaining other official documents, which prevents us from benefiting from public aid,” he explained.

“We are poor, we don’t have much and we depend on this aid.”

In Delhi, police detained several protesters and took them by bus to other areas of the capital, but some returned on foot to the Jantar Mantar site.

“No matter how many times they do this, we will come back to protest,” said Sahana, a lawyer, who was detained by police and then walked two kilometers to join the rally again.

“You can’t take away our right to walk, can you,” she added.

Political leaders who came to support the demonstrators were also briefly arrested.

Opposition parties plan to march to the Election Commission headquarters in New Delhi on October 6 and then hold "Save Democracy" rallies across the country in the following days.

Activist Vijeta Dahiya, who took part in the “cockroaches” revolt, declared that “no one wants to demonstrate” but “we are “forced to raise our voices when the government makes mistakes”.

Mr. Kumar did not react to the Indian daily's accusations but the Election Commission declared that they are "only part of the reality".

© 2026 AFP

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