New Delhi braces for second day of anti-poll chief protests

Summary

• The demonstrations centre on allegations that changes to electoral rolls could unfairly benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been in power for more than 12 years.
• The party and the Election Commission have rejected allegations of electoral manipulation.
• The party has branded its latest demonstrations “Season 2” and vowed to continue its protests until changes are made to India’s electoral system.

AI Generated Summary

New Delhi prepared for a second consecutive day of youth-led protests on Sunday, with demonstrators demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over controversial voter-list revisions. The developments came as a court ordered the release of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke and two senior party leaders from detention.

Dipke and the other leaders were detained on Saturday after arriving in Delhi by plane. They had planned to join a major gathering at Jantar Mantar in central New Delhi. The leaders were presented before a magistrate early on Sunday and subsequently released on the condition that they maintain peace for one year, according to the party’s legal head, Ratna Singh.

Social media influencer and activist Dhruv Rathee, who was also detained, was released after midnight. An interior ministry official said his release was conditional on not participating in further protests.