India releases CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke after detention at anti-election protest

Abhijeet Dipke, the 31-year-old founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), was released on Saturday, a day after being detained by Delhi police. The youth leader was taken into custody while attempting to join a protest rally in Delhi's central Connaught Place district that the CJP movement had called.

CJP legal affairs chief Ratna Singh confirmed on social media that Dipke was released after agreeing to certain conditions, though she did not provide details about the terms. The CJP movement published a photo of Dipke on X, referring to him as 'a free man.'

The detention of Dipke occurred against the backdrop of widespread protests in India against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of voter list manipulation. All India Students' Association President Neha Bora, a prominent figure in these protests, was also detained on Friday but released later that evening. Critics accuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP of using the Special Intensive Revision exercise to remove minority voters, while the Election Commission maintains the process targets deceased, relocated, and duplicate voters.

Political rhetoric surrounding the protests has intensified, with Union Minister Pralhad Joshi dismissing opposition calls for regime change and targeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for supporting activist Neha Bora. Meanwhile, two other CJP leaders, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, remain in judicial custody, and the party has warned of legal action if they are not released by the weekend.