'Cockroach' protesters demand India's election chief resign over controversial voter list changes

NEW DELHI (AP) — India's “Cockroach” youth movement has called for new protests in the country's financial hub of Mumbai for Friday to demand the resignation of the chief election commissioner over a contentious revision of voter lists.

The movement, which began as an online campaign and now calls itself the Cockroach Janata Party, forced India's education minister to resign in July with its street protests. The Mumbai rally is meant to kick off a new period of demonstrations nationwide.

Separately, police prevented student and civil society groups from gathering Friday at Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site in New Delhi, to also demand the commissioner's resignation. Police detained some opposition leaders heading to the site, which had been barricaded off.

The protests add to mounting pressure on India’s Election Commission, which oversees polls across the country. Critics and opposition parties accuse it of altering voter registrations to give an advantage to the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Both the commission and the government deny any wrongdoing.

The Indian Express newspaper last month reported that two of the three election commissioners had formally objected to several decisions involving voter list revisions, registration procedures and the commission’s digital systems.

According to the report, the two commissioners questioned the legality of some of the decisions, but Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar disregarded their objections. Indian law requires the three-member Election Commission to make decisions by majority vote.

The commission disputed the report, saying it was based on “differing views and deliberations” among the commissioners rather than formal written objections.

India’s voter list revisions began last year in the eastern state of Bihar ahead of state elections, and have since expanded to most of the country’s states and federally administered territories.

Known as Special Intensive Revision, the revisions have drawn criticism over the documents required to establish voters’ eligibility. Critics say the requirements have been confusing and difficult for many voters to meet, potentially leaving millions off the registration lists and unable to vote.

Election Commission data shows voter lists in some regions could shrink by as much as 30%.

The commission says the objective is to remove duplicate and ineligible entries while ensuring eligible voters remain on the lists. Opposition parties and activists say it risks excluding legitimate voters. They also accuse the chief commissioner, Kumar, of political bias and allege the revisions benefit Modi’s party.

The Election Commission and Modi's party have rejected the allegations.

The youth movement, which emerged earlier this year out of anger over high unemployment among young people and leaked examination papers, has grown into a political force.

Led by Abhijeet Dipke, it rose to national prominence after organizing mass protests over examination paper leaks. The demonstrations culminated in the resignation of India’s education minister, a significant political setback for Modi’s government.

The movement has since sought to take up other issues beyond education, including government accountability and democratic institutions.

Socialist, left-wing parties and student activists shout slogans as police detain them during a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and calling for the suspension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in New Delhi, India, Friday, Oct. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Socialist, left-wing parties and student activists shout slogans as police detain them during a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and calling for the suspension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in New Delhi, India, Friday, Oct. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Socialist, left-wing parties and student activists shout slogans from a police vehicle after being detained during a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and calling for the suspension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in New Delhi, India, Friday, Oct. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Socialist, left-wing parties and student activists shout slogans as police detain them during a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and calling for the suspension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in New Delhi, India, Friday, Oct. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Socialist, left-wing parties and student activists shout slogans during a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and calling for the suspension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in New Delhi, India, Friday, Oct. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Supporters of India's opposition Congress party hold a poster featuring Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, top and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, bottom, during a protest against Kumar, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, and the alleged the exclusion of millions of voters from draft electoral rolls, in Ahmedabad, India, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

NEW DELHI (AP) — The Indian airline captain who helped thwart an apparent attempt to crash a FlyDubai flight described Friday how he fought for his life in the minutes after his co-pilot stabbed him and the plane began a steep descent.

Capt. Smit Machchhar, recovering in an Abu Dhabi hospital, told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a televised video call that he knew he had to get back on his feet to save his passengers.

“I had so many wounds. I had fallen down,” he said from the hospital, his head bandaged and tubes in his nose, before breaking down as he recalled the attack.

“I was fighting for my life. At one point, I realized that if I didn’t get up … then passengers would lose their lives,” he told Modi.

Machchhar, who is from Mumbai, was seriously injured in Wednesday’s attack but managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers to enter and restrain the attacker as the Boeing 737 descended sharply, witnesses and Israeli authorities said. He has been hailed as a hero, with world leaders saying he helped avert a disaster.

The flight, carrying 182 people from Dubai to Tel Aviv, was diverted to Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia for an emergency landing. FlyDubai said Wednesday that the jet was secured by on-duty crew members “who diverted and landed the aircraft safely.” A regional official said the crew members were pilots in training.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacker, an Omani national, was arrested in Saudi Arabia and was undergoing interrogation there. The motive for the attack was not immediately clear.

Modi told Machchhar his “courage, patience, and presence of mind” saved many lives.

Machchhar said his flying experience allowed him to sense the plane’s steep descent even after he was knocked down by the attacker.

“I have been flying planes for 17 years and serving as a captain for the last 11 years. I can sense exactly what is happening with the aircraft even with my eyes closed. When I was down, I could feel that the aircraft was plummeting,” he said.

Machchhar said that during those difficult moments, he recited the Hanuman Chalisa, a Hindu devotional hymn dedicated to Lord Hanuman, the monkey god, and traditionally recited as a prayer for strength and courage.

“Lord Hanuman gave me courage,” he told Modi.

Machchhar, who is married and has two children, has worked for FlyDubai for about four years, according to his LinkedIn profile. Before joining the airline, he spent 11 years with SpiceJet, an Indian low-cost carrier, where he served as a senior commander and line training captain. He logged more than 9,750 flying hours with SpiceJet.

Philip Kean, CEO of Mainland Air, the New Zealand flight school where Machchhar trained, said pilots are taught how to take over if a fellow crew member becomes incapacitated. But the training does not typically prepare them for a stabbing attack by a colleague, he told The Associated Press on Friday.

“I don’t think there’s much in the handbook for being stabbed,” Kean said.

“You’re friends and you’re flying together,” he said. “Nobody would expect … a person to have a go at you like that.”

Associated Press journalist Charlotte Graham-McLay in Wellington, New Zealand, contributed to this report.

News media personnel film in the building where relatives of Smit Machchhar, an Indian pilot for Flydubai, previously lived in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

A teacher from Gurukul School of Art paints a portrait honoring Smit Machchhar, an Indian pilot with FlyDubai, in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026.(AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

This undated photo released on Israel's Foreign Ministry social media shows Indian Capt. Smit Machchhar in the cockpit of a plane in an unknown location. Machchhar was at the controls of a FlyDubai flight that was diverted to Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia for an emergency landing on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (Israel's Foreign Ministry via AP)