DOMINANT ANGLE
Moscow views the confrontation between the "rathole" movement and the election commission as an Indian domestic policy dispute, lining up the opposition's accusations alongside the defense of Modi's party.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
According to PTI as cited by Interfax, around a thousand people were detained in Delhi on October 10 and more than 30,000 police officers were deployed.
- 02
Founder Abhijeet Dipke and two close associates were arrested on the plane at Delhi airport, then Dipke was released, according to RIA Novosti citing Reuters.
- 03
The election commission claims that "different viewpoints are a normal part of decision-making", while Modi's party denounces a "smear campaign".
ANALYSIS
Moscow, October 11, 2026. Russian agencies are treating the episode as a dispatch of Indian domestic politics, drawing on local and Western sources. Interfax, citing the Indian agency PTI, reports that on Saturday, October 10, two police officers and several protesters were injured during the operation to prevent the action of the "Party of the Cockroaches" in Delhi. According to PTI, about a thousand people were arrested in different neighborhoods of the city, including opposition figures. More than 30,000 police officers were deployed, and the police had banned all mass gatherings in the capital.
Interfax also relays, according to the Al-Arabiya channel, the arrest of the movement's founder, Abhijeet Dipke, and two of his close associates, which took place on the plane upon arrival at Delhi airport. The movement had threatened to organize protests across the country if the head of the electoral commission, Gyanesh Kumar, did not resign.
The basis of the dispute is presented in two stages. The opposition parties accuse the commission of partiality and claim that the voter lists were modified to ensure the victory of the Indian People's Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The commission responds that "different viewpoints are a normal part of decision-making in any institution." Modi's party defends the commission and believes that the opposition has launched a "slander campaign" because it regularly loses elections.
RIA Novosti, on October 11, announces Dipke's release, according to Reuters and his lawyer, and reiterates the ANI agency's report on his arrest at Indira-Gandhi Airport. The agency presents the movement as "satirical," launched in May in response to a phrase by the President of the Indian Supreme Court, Surya Kant, who had compared young unemployed people to cockroaches. It has gathered millions of online subscribers and the support of opposition elected officials and activists. Dipke, who returned from the United States in June, is demanding reforms in education.
The account remains descriptive: police figures, crossed versions of the opposition and the authorities, without editorial commentary on the legitimacy of the arrests or Indian democracy.
