CJP Leaders Jailed After Protesting Voter List Revisions

Delhi Police detained leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and thousands of protesters on October 13, 2026, after they jumped barricades to enter the Jantar Mantar observatory. The activists, including co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, entered the site to hoist the Indian national flag and demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The protest followed a government decision to denotify Jantar Mantar as an official protest site, replacing it with alternative venues such as Ramlila Maidan and Burari Ground.

The demonstrations center on a controversial revision of voter lists that removed over 130 million names since 2025. Opposition groups allege the deletions disproportionately target minorities to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while the Election Commission of India maintains the process is legitimate. The CJP, a youth-led pressure group founded by Abhijeet Dipke, has previously gained prominence by forcing the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan earlier in the year.

A court subsequently sentenced Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka to five days of judicial custody at Tihar Jail for trespassing and violating peace bonds, while leader Ajinkya Shinde was released on a personal bond. Opposition figures, including Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal, condemned the arrests as an act of cowardice and a sign of dictatorship. In contrast, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta accused the CJP of acting as a political tool for the Aam Aadmi Party.