India's Cockroach Janata Party says thousands detained amid ongoing protests

India's Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) has said that authorities have detained large numbers of its members as thousands of supporters, alongside several student groups, continue protests demanding the resignation of the country's chief election commissioner.

The demonstrations on Thursday come ahead of larger antigovernment protests organised by CJP planned for Saturday, when thousands are expected to march to Jantar Mantar, the designated protest site in New Delhi.

CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka said on social media platform X that at least 10,000 people connected to CJP demonstrations, student organisations, grassroots groups and political parties had been detained nationwide. Among those taken into custody, according to the group, was CJP national spokesman Deepak Baliyan, detained by police on Thursday.

Al Jazeera said it could not immediately verify these claims, though videos circulating on X appeared to show activists being loaded into police vans.

The protests stem from opposition parties and CJP-affiliated students demanding that chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar step down over a disputed revision of voter lists. Critics allege the move favours Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

CJP also reported that a group of students from Pune, who were travelling to New Delhi to join the planned Jantar Mantar demonstrations, had been detained and taken away by bus to an undisclosed location.