Indian court grants bail to Cockroach Party founder

Indian activist Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), was granted bail by a New Delhi court on Saturday following his detention ahead of a planned protest. The arrest came before a demonstration at Connaught Place over alleged voter roll deletions.

Protests over voter roll revisions

The Cockroach Janta Party has organized sustained demonstrations alongside opposition groups, calling for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The demands follow reports that two election commissioners raised internal concerns last month regarding voter list revisions in multiple states. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has accused opposition parties and "foreign powers" of attempting to "destabilize the country," and said the Congress "is attacking constitutional institutions for the sake of the chair."

Legal proceedings

Dipke was granted conditional bail on Saturday and required to sign a peace bond, according to the Press Trust of India. CJP leader Ratna Singh confirmed the release on social media platform X, though police had arrested Dipke on Friday after detaining him ahead of the Connaught Place march.

Recent detentions

The release came days after a New Delhi court remanded two other CJP leaders to five days in jail. The pair had been detained during protests at Jantar Mantar, which authorities denotified as an official protest site earlier this week. The judicial actions mark the latest developments in a series of clashes between opposition activists and security forces over electoral transparency concerns.