Leader of the 'Cockroach Party' is detained before demonstration in India

The founder of the "Cockroach Party", Abhijeet Dipke, was detained this Saturday (10), in New Delhi, before a protest against the president of the Election Commission of India. The demonstration, called without authorization, demanded the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar, accused by the opposition of conducting an irregular review of electoral records.

The arrest was announced by the CJP (Baratas People's Party), which published images on social media of a plane from which Dipke had disembarked in the capital. According to the party, two other spokespersons for the movement were also detained. Police have not confirmed the arrests.

Dipke has lived in the United States for two years and has not traveled to India since the formation of the movement. According to him, family and friends feared that he would be arrested if he returned to the country.

Accumulating more than 22 million followers on Instagram since launching in mid-May, the group has become the largest online expression of opposition to Narendra Modi's 12 years of nationalist government.

The movement, which is not an official party, was driven by unemployment among young people and exam leaks and correction errors that threaten to harm the careers of millions of students. Dipke went on to say that the organization is "not a planned party", but a "voice of those students who are angry with the government".

The party's first major rally took place in June and demanded the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

India has nearly 400 million people in the 15-29 age group, and generating non-agricultural jobs for them remains one of the country's biggest challenges.

The unemployment rate among young people in cities was almost 14% in April. Many of them with education are also stuck in low-paying or precarious jobs that don't match their qualifications, according to economists.

During the demonstration, police detained more than 2,000 people, according to the Reuters news agency. The Press Trust of India (PTI) agency states that around 20,000 police and paramilitary personnel were mobilized to contain an act organized by the movement.

Authorities also suspended access to mobile internet in the central region and ordered the closure of dozens of subway stations and markets.

Protests against the review of electoral lists have mobilized the movement and the Congress Party, the main opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, for weeks. According to the Indian press, the process led to the deletion of 130 million electoral records.

The review, which began last year, aims to eliminate duplicate registrations, dead people and records considered fraudulent. Opposition and activists, however, claim that the measure also excludes minority voters, especially Muslims, and vulnerable groups.

For critics, the process could favor the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Modi's party, which defends Hindu nationalism.

The Electoral Commission denies irregularities. In a post on social media, the CJP accused the prime minister of protecting Kumar from the election commission. "To save his traitorous friend, the dictator declared war on his own citizens," the party published.