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MUMBAI\/DELHI: Hundreds of supporters of the Gen Z-led Cockroach Janta Party protested in India\u2019s financial capital Mumbai on Friday, kicking off a new nationwide campaign against changes to voter rolls they say benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s governing party.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Critics say a nationwide voter-verification exercise launched last year has led to millions of eligible voters being removed from electoral rolls.<\/p>\n
The commission, long regarded as one of the country\u2019s 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 \u2060commented.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of supporters \u2060of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) in Mumbai waved the Indian flags at the protest site and shouting \u201cGyanu it\u2019s done bro.\u201d Some carried placards that read \u201cTHE JANTA HAS A SPINE, GYANU MUST RESIGN.\u201d<\/p>\n
PARTY LISTS CITIES IT WILL TARGET THIS MONTH<\/p>\n
Led by Abhijeet Dipke, the CJP \u2014 which adopted the name after India\u2019s chief justice called unemployed youth and online activists \u201ccockroaches\u201d \u2014 gained national prominence after spearheading mass protests over exam-paper leaks; those protests led to the resignation of India\u2019s education minister.<\/p>\n
Pressure on Kumar intensified last month after the Indian Express newspaper reported the election chief\u2019s two deputies had formally \u2060raised concerns at least 14 times over the past 10 months over voter-list revisions, registration procedures and the commission\u2019s digital systems.<\/p>\n
The Election Commission has said differing views are normal in internal deliberations.<\/p>\n
Saurav Das, CJP\u2019s spokesperson told Reuters, protests will continue until Kumar resigns.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will protest for few hours today. Apart from Mumbai, we will do Goa, Kolkata, Bangalore, this whole month,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
However, in Delhi, a separate group of student protesters was not allowed to gather, with batches of them bundled into buses and taken away by the police. Several nearby metro stations remained shut and security was tightened.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, as police pushed him onto a bus, protester Rishabh Singh said, \u201cthe right to protest is our fundamental right, and we want answers from the government on vote theft.\u201d<\/p>\n
ELECTION COMMISSION LAUNCHES REVIEW OF VOTER ROLLS<\/p>\n
The main allegation of the protesters and opposition parties is that the \u2060commission manipulated voter rolls \u2060in ways that favor Modi\u2019s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The commission and the government have denied the allegations.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the INDIA alliance, an opposition grouping of more than two dozen parties lead by Congress, said it would begin protests demanding Kumar\u2019s resignation on October 6. All opposition lawmakers plan to march to the Election Commission office in Delhi, they said.<\/p>\n
In a move that appeared aimed at easing tensions, on Friday the election commission directed officials to register newly eligible voters and those omitted from electoral rolls.<\/p>\n
The CJP, a youth movement that emerged earlier this year from online frustration over unemployment and leaked examination papers, has become an unexpected political force.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that Modi has been in power for over 12 years, new challenges are coming up from different sections of society, which makes it hard for him to box them as anti-national forces,\u201d political analyst Rasheed Kidwai said.<\/p>\n
He added that a section of the country\u2019s youth is challenging his credibility, and they have an impact on 40 percent of the population.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n