Opposition ramps up pressure as political arrests spark protest row

Tiwari framed the Home Minister’s recent remarks regarding voter list revisions as a defensive reaction to the Congress party’s strengthening position. He pointed to the party’s current governance in four states as evidence of a political resurgence, dismissing criticism of the opposition’s resistance to electoral processes. Meanwhile, the INDIA bloc has intensified its agitation, with Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut confirming that protests will continue until Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resigns.

The friction escalated after Delhi Police detained 14 members of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) on October 13 for allegedly entering the restricted Jantar Mantar site. Two activists, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, remain in five-day judicial custody, while Ajinkya Shinde has been bound down for six months to ensure peace. Police officials cited multiple counts of obstructing public servants and inciting unrest through social media as grounds for the registration of two separate FIRs. CJP member Abhijeet Dipke condemned the detentions, characterizing the government’s response to the activists’ attempt to hoist the national flag as an affront to civil liberties and an unofficial state of emergency.