Modi has a problem with cockroaches

On 7 October 2001, Narendra Modi was sworn in for the first time as Chief Minister of the Indian state of Gujarat. Yesterday, whilst the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was celebrating the 25th anniversary of his public service, several opposition MPs and the opposition leader in the Lok Sabha – the lower house of the Indian Parliament – Rahul Gandhi, took to the streets of the capital, New Delhi, to protest once again. For days, the opposition, student groups and the youth movement of the Cockroach Janta Party have been protesting to demand the resignation of the Chairman of the Election Commission, Gyanesh Kumar, whom they accuse of having altered the electoral rolls to the advantage of the ruling BJP.

Just a few months ago, the same movement, through street protests, had succeeded in securing the resignation of the Minister of Education, Dharmendra Pradhan; now it has gone even further and says it has no intention of stopping:  “We have informed them that the ‘Party of Cockroaches’ and young people from across the nation – all these ‘cockroaches’ – will gather at Jantar Mantar on 10 October,” said Saurav Das, one of the movement’s leaders, yesterday. Today it will be Bangalore’s turn, at Freedom Park: the Congress Party has announced a national protest on “Black Day for Democracy”. The demonstrations are becoming an increasingly political problem for Modi, who in recent days has responded by stepping up security measures on city streets, with police barricades manned by officers armed with truncheons and CCTV cameras, diverted routes and internet shutdowns. While celebrations in honour of the Prime Minister were taking place, some opposition MPs – including Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Vadra – were arrested and then released while shouting “vote thieves”. On stage in Varanasi, BJP president Nitin Nabin accused them of colluding with “anti-social elements in a climate of anarchy”, and said they should be stripped of their right to vote.