AAP accuses BJP of 'black emergency' as police detain CJP protesters in Delhi

Authorities in Delhi have shut dozens of metro stations, suspended mobile internet services and detained scores of demonstrators ahead of a planned rally by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), prompting the Aam Aadmi Party to accuse the central government of declaring a "black emergency".

Police detained CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and co-organisers Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka shortly after their flight from Mumbai landed at Delhi airport on Saturday morning. The movement said its leaders were taken to an undisclosed location without access to legal counsel. In Mumbai, authorities detained Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, ahead of a planned demonstration at August Kranti Maidan, while police also detained political commentator Dhruv Rathee outside Delhi.

What happened in Delhi

Delhi Police deployed more than 23,000 security personnel across the capital, barricading central business districts and sealing off all access routes to Jantar Mantar. Authorities closed 45 metro stations from Friday evening through Saturday afternoon and cancelled several inbound train services. Mobile internet was suspended within a four-kilometre radius of the protest site.

Police officials said permission for the rally was refused because the organisers had failed to submit their application ten days in advance, as required by local regulations. Broadcast journalists covering the security operation, including reporters from Newslaundry and Scroll, were also briefly detained before being released.

Why CJP is protesting

The CJP, which began as an online satirical movement in May after India's chief justice made a controversial remark about unemployed youth, called the rally to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The group alleges that the Election Commission's nationwide Special Intensive Revision exercise has improperly stripped more than 130 million names from electoral rolls to benefit the ruling party. The Election Commission and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have both denied any political bias, stating that the voter roll revision is a standard administrative exercise designed to remove duplicate, deceased or ineligible entries.

How political leaders responded

Opposition parties lined up to condemn the police action. AAP Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the government of creating an environment of fear rather than speaking with young citizens, while former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal stated that the crackdown was "worse than the Emergency" declared in 1975.

Responding to the accusations, BJP president Nitin Nabin rejected claims of authoritarianism and accused opposition parties of attempting to destabilise the country. Speaking at a press conference in Delhi, Nabin called the opposition "anarchic" and argued that political opponents were backing informal pressure groups because they could not accept defeat at the ballot box.