Oppn decries detentions during Delhi protest, accuses Centre of repression

New Delhi: A political row erupted in Delhi on Saturday over the police action against demonstrators, journalists and activists during a protest seeking the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, with opposition leaders accusing the Centre of suppressing dissent and drawing comparisons with the Emergency.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal described the situation as “worse than Emergency” and accused the Narendra Modi government of turning the country into an “absolute dictatorship”. Referring to the detention of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke from an aircraft, Kejriwal said such action reflected the government’s unprecedented fear of opposition. He alleged that the BJP was attempting to protect electoral fraud by crushing democratic protests and demanded the resignations of Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Hundreds of people were detained across the capital, including Dipke, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, activists and Scroll journalists Ayush Tiwari and Shoaib Daniyal. The demonstration was organised by the CJP and Left-affiliated student groups over concerns about the functioning of the Election Commission and the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Protesters also demanded that the SIR exercise be withdrawn.

Congress leader KC Venugopal accused the Modi government of waging a “war against its own people”, pointing to restrictions on public transport and metro services alongside the detentions. He described the police action against the non-violent Satyagraha as brutal and oppressive.

Jairam Ramesh said Delhi had effectively been “turned into a fortress” and alleged that the Chief Election Commissioner had acted at the government’s direction. He termed Kumar’s resignation a moral imperative.

Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said the developments reminded him of the Emergency and called for the immediate release of political leaders, students and young protesters, stressing that dissent was not a crime.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti compared the restrictions in Delhi with the situation in Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, when movement and internet services were curtailed. She accused the BJP of attempting to silence protests.

The CPI(M) also condemned what it called “widespread repression”. Among those detained were party General Secretary MA Baby, former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Brinda Karat and Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas. The party said the government was rattled by the protests and that such measures would not stop people from raising their concerns.

TMC MP Mahua Moitra described Dipke’s detention from the aircraft as “bullying” and likened it to the Emergency. Party colleague Derek O’Brien also criticised the action, saying, “Cowards are biggest bullies.”

The protest came after several days of INDIA bloc demonstrations in Delhi. The latest mobilisation followed an Indian Express investigation published on September 23 which reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally raised objections 14 times over 10 months to decisions taken by the poll panel in connection with the SIR exercise.