Delhi Police Detain CJP Founder During Nationwide Flag Protests

Delhi Police preventively detained Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), and over 150 other protesters on October 16, 2026. The detentions occurred during the "Lehra Do Tiranga" campaign, which demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The CJP alleges that a Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls deleted over 130 million voters to favor the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In New Delhi, authorities blocked a planned rally at Central Park in Connaught Place by closing the park for administrative reasons and deploying approximately 32,000 personnel, including Rapid Action Force units. Dipke was apprehended at his residence in Jhandewalan, while All India Students’ Association president Neha Bora was detained near Mandi House. The protests followed the jailing of CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka for entering the restricted Jantar Mantar site.

While New Delhi and Bengaluru authorities restricted assemblies, the CJP held a peaceful demonstration at Azad Maidan in Mumbai. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh dismissed the movement as a political maneuver by the opposition, claiming youth were being used as "pawns in the politics of anarchy." The Election Commission and the BJP denied any voter list manipulation, stating that deletions were legitimate and that wrongly removed voters could re-enroll.