Hundreds from India's Gen Z-led 'cockroach' party protest

NEW DELHI, Oct 2: Hundreds of supporters of the Gen Z-led Cockroach Janta Party protested in India's financial capital Mumbai on Friday, kicking off a new nationwide campaign against changes to voter rolls they say benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governing party.

The demonstration marks the latest in a series of youth-led protests that have emerged this year, putting pressure on Modi unprecedented in his 12 years in power.

Critics say a nationwide voter-verification exercise launched last year has led to millions of eligible voters being removed from electoral rolls.

The commission, long regarded as one of the country's most trusted institutions, says the exercise is intended to remove duplicate, deceased or ineligible voters. The chief of the Election Commission, Gyanesh Kumar, who is at the heart of the criticism, has not commented.

Hundreds of supporters of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) in Mumbai waved the Indian flags at the protest site and shouting "Gyanuit's done bro." Some carried placards that read "THE JANTA HAS A SPINE, GYANU MUST RESIGN."

Z News adds, mobile internet was suspended around JantarMantar on Friday as Delhi Police detained about 700 protesters demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Those held include AAP leaders and activists of several student organisations.

Internet services were cut at the protest site and in surrounding areas.

According to the report, the suspension was in force from 9 am to 9 pm within a 1.5-km radius of JantarMantar. Police have not been quoted confirming those exact hours in the reports available.

The Delhi Metro closed entry and exit at 12 stations, among them Rajiv Chowk, Central Secretariat and JantarMantar.

Police said 8 to 9 zones had been created in and around JantarMantar, each under a senior IPS officer. Rapid Action Force personnel and a riot control vehicle were also deployed. DCP New Delhi Sachin Sharma said Section 163 of the BNSS was in force in the district, and protests, demonstrations and marches were not permitted.

Delhi Police said permission for the protest had been denied. Police declared the gathering unlawful and removed protesters from the site.

Led by AbhijeetDipke, the CJP - which adopted the name after India's chief justice called unemployed youth and online activists "cockroaches" - gained national prominence after spearheading mass protests over exam-paper leaks; those protests led to the resignation of India's education minister.

Pressure on Kumar intensified last month after the Indian Express newspaper reported the election chief's two deputies had formally raised concerns at least 14 times over the past 10 months over voter-list revisions, registration procedures and the commission's digital systems.�" AGENCIES