Founder Abhijeet Dipke called Prime Minister Narendra Modi “the biggest coward this country has ever seen” after his release. Movement leaders accused the government of “waging war” on its own citizens to shield Kumar. A New Delhi court ordered Dipke and two other senior leaders released after 24 hours in detention, their lawyer said; police had detained them ahead of Saturday’s planned demonstration.
The dispute centers on a verification exercise covering nearly one billion voters that removed 130 million names from electoral rolls. Opposition parties accuse election authorities of manipulating the lists to benefit Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. The Election Commission and BJP deny wrongdoing, and election officials say the revisions remove duplicate, deceased and ineligible voters.