Opposition leaders, activists and journalists detained in Delhi crackdown on protest against Gyanesh Kumar
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New Delhi witnessed an unprecedented security crackdown on Saturday as former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, AISA leader Neha Bora, activists Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, and several other Opposition leaders and protesters were detained by Delhi Police during demonstrations against the Election Commission.
The crackdown also extended to journalists and political commentators, including YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, while leaders of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), which had called for the protest, were detained at the airport before they could reach the demonstration site.
The detentions came amid stringent security arrangements across the national capital, where thousands of police and paramilitary personnel were deployed to prevent demonstrators from gathering at Jantar Mantar.
According to police sources quoted by The Indian Express, around 27,000 personnel were mobilised, entry and exit restrictions were imposed at more than 40 metro stations, traffic diversions disrupted movement across central Delhi, and over 250 trains were cancelled until 2 pm. At least 1,200 people had reportedly been detained overnight.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) said its leaders, including Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas, Vijayan and former Kerala minister K N Balagopal, were detained and taken around the city before being brought to Chhatrasal Stadium, one of the designated venues where the police were taking protesters. The party also reported the detention of senior leaders M A Baby, Brinda Karat, E P Jayarajan, M V Govindan, K K Shailaja and P K Sreemathi.
Banerjee and other Trinamool Congress leaders were detained outside the residence of the former West Bengal chief minister in Delhi, while Bora, Yadav and Bhushan were apprehended as activists attempted to make their way towards Dilli Haat. The alternative gathering point was proposed after police detained at least 200 people attempting to reach Jantar Mantar, where restrictions had effectively prevented the planned demonstration from proceeding.
The police also detained CJP leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka inside an aircraft shortly after they arrived from Mumbai, hours before the scheduled protest. The party subsequently announced that Ajinkya Shinde would lead the demonstration. Rathee, who has approximately 33 million YouTube followers and was expected to draw substantial public participation, was detained at his residence in Gurugram’s Sector 56, according to police sources.
In a statement, the CJP condemned the detentions as a pre-planned attempt to prevent its leaders from reaching the protest venue, describing the action as a violation of freedom of movement and demanding their immediate and unconditional release.
The protest was organised against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, with the party alleging manipulation of electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and irregularities concerning Form 6, which is used for voter registration. Delhi Police had denied permission for the demonstration, citing security concerns, insufficient notice and alleged violations of conditions imposed during earlier protests; the application had been submitted on October 7, against a prescribed ten-day notice period.
Meanwhile, DMK president and former Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin condemned the police action, saying the scenes in Delhi and the scale of repression against peaceful demonstrators evoked painful memories of the Emergency. He demanded the immediate release of detained political leaders, students and young protesters, and insisted that dissent must not be treated as a crime.
The crackdown has intensified Opposition criticism of the government, with protesters demanding Kumar’s resignation and the restoration of the Election Commission’s independence and institutional integrity.