India Deploys Forces in Delhi for Poll Chief Protest — SkimNews
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- Indian authorities are deploying thousands of police and paramilitary personnel — some drawn from sensitive areas including Indian Kashmir — in Delhi ahead of a Saturday protest by the "Cockroach" youth movement demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation.
- Election Commission data, also cited by the BJP, shows approximately 130 million names — more than Japan's population — have been deleted from voter lists: 63 million who relocated, 30 million who could not be traced, and 28 million who died.
- Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke declared on X that "the youth of this country are no longer scared of you," directly addressing Modi; the movement previously forced the education minister's resignation after an agitation against exam paper leaks.
- Delhi authorities cancelled several long-distance trains into the capital and shut 57 metro stations from Friday night, while the CJP says police in several states are detaining thousands of its supporters trying to reach the protest.
- The BJP and Election Commission deny manipulation claims, but opposition parties say Muslim voters and minorities are disproportionately affected by the deletions; police say the CJP lacks permission for Saturday's rally and could face legal action.
Why it matters: The Cockroach Janta Party already handed Modi his biggest political setback in years by forcing the education minister's resignation, and it is now targeting the institution running India's elections. With ~130 million names erased from voter rolls and seven states — including bellwether Uttar Pradesh — heading to polls in 2027, the protest tests both Modi's political grip and the credibility of the world's largest democracy's electoral machinery.
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