Elections: Court acquits leaders of youth protest movement in India

Bangalore. The leader of India's “Cockroach” protest movement is at large again. A court had earlier ordered the release of Abhijeet Dipke. He was arrested on Friday while attempting to lead another demonstration in New Delhi. The protests are directed against the head of the Indian Election Commission, whose resignation the demonstrators are demanding.

The prominent student activist Neha Bora, who was arrested with dozens of supporters on her way to the center of the capital on Friday, was also released on Saturday.

The background to the almost daily protests by youth groups, student organizations and opposition parties this month is a revision of the voter lists. More than 130 million voters were eliminated.

The demonstrators accuse the head of the Election Commission, Gyanesh Kumar, of favoring Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party, the BJP. The electoral commission rejected the accusation of partisanship and said voters who were mistakenly deleted could re-register.

The movement, driven by youth and supported by many opposition parties, has become one of the biggest political challenges for Modi in his 12-year term.