CJP protest: India ‘cockroach’ leaders who called on election chief to quit are freed from jail

The CJP is not a registered political party, but a collective which began by mobilising thousands of young people to protest over leaked exam papers.

By July it had emerged as a major force.

A march towards parliament that month ended in clashes with police, drawing wider attention to the movement and increasing pressure on the government. The unrest eventually led to the resignation of India’s education minister.

The CJP has since shifted its focus to India’s electoral system.

Along with opposition parties, students and other critics of the government, it accuses Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar of revising electoral rolls, an exercise known as the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Both the BJP and the Election Commission have rejected the allegation.

The SIR exercise has resulted in around 130 million names being removed from voter lists since last year.

Critics warn that the process could also exclude eligible voters, potentially denying them their right to vote, while the Election Commission says the exercise is intended to remove ineligible, dead and duplicate entries.

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