Delhi Closes Park as Cockroach Party Targets Election Chief

New Delhi (GNP): Authorities closed a central New Delhi park on Friday ahead of a fresh protest seeking the removal of India’s chief election commissioner over a voter-roll revision that critics say has disenfranchised millions of people.

The rally was called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), whose campaign has become the focal point of opposition anger over allegations that the revised rolls favour Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party. The Election Commission of India (ECI), which oversees voting in the world’s most populous nation, has denied any wrongdoing.

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke had urged supporters to gather at the capital’s Central Park after two of his colleagues were detained for breaching security barricades at Jantar Mantar, where they had gone to wave the national flag. Earlier this week, police had withdrawn authorisation for Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site, which pushed the movement towards a new venue.

That venue was then closed. Delhi’s municipal authorities said Central Park would remain shut for two days for administrative reasons, and Delhi Police barred public gatherings around Connaught Place, citing public order and safety.

Police warned on Thursday that violations would attract suitable legal action, but added that they would allow selected persons to gather at a suitable place. On Friday, thousands of security personnel were deployed in parts of the city, with yellow metal barricades set up at key intersections.

Dipke said he was undeterred despite the possibility of arrest before the protest. Speaking on Thursday, he said that if waving the Indian flag lands a person in jail, his supporters were ready.

Behind the confrontation lies the voter-roll exercise itself, which is overseen by chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and has already triggered street protests in the capital. According to media reports, more than 130 million names have been removed from the electoral lists, and critics say the removals have disproportionately affected minorities, particularly Muslims.

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Election authorities reject that reading and say the exercise was meant to eliminate duplicate, deceased and fraudulent entries. Members of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have long alleged that large numbers of undocumented Muslim migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh have fraudulently entered the rolls.

The government’s response came on Friday from Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who dismissed the allegations at a news conference. He said the opposition parties’ sole agenda was to destroy democratic institutions and create unrest, and that their fight was not for electoral reform or the future of the country’s youth. He described it instead as a conspiracy to seize power by creating anarchy.

With the park shut, public gatherings restricted and both sides trading sharp accusations, the dispute over the voter rolls has now moved from the electoral process to the question of who can protest, and where, in the capital.

Abhijeet Dipke said, “Why are you so afraid of cockroaches?”