Four former chief ministers were detained by Delhi Police on Saturday (October 10) as protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar intensified in the national capital.
The detained leaders were former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and former Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar. They were detained while attempting to join the protest at Jantar Mantar.
With Jantar Mantar and other parts of Delhi under tight security, police detained protesters at several locations and restricted movement across the capital. The CJP had called the demonstration to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Opposition leaders detained
Besides Kejriwal, Banerjee, Vijayan and Sarkar, others detained included CPI(M) general secretary MA Baby, veteran Left leader Brinda Karat, CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, activist Yogendra Yadav and lawyer Prashant Bhushan.
Also read: ‘Undeclared Emergency’: Opposition leaders slam Modi govt over detentions in Delhi
Kejriwal was detained outside his Lodhi Estate residence while marching towards Jantar Mantar with AAP leaders and workers. As police personnel moved to take him away, party workers tried to prevent his detention.
Police personnel lifted him by his legs and upper body and carried him towards a police bus. The party leaders detained with him included Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh, Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj, MLA Kuldeep Kumar and national media in-charge Anurag Dhanda. Senior AAP leader Gopal Rai was also detained while protesting at the party office.
Kejriwal calls for nationwide protests
Before his detention, Kejriwal urged young people across the country to protest against alleged electoral malpractice.
“… Till now, Modiji used to win elections only by stealing votes. Now he has been caught red-handed,” he said. “Wherever Modiji stops you, sit there. Turn that place into Jantar Mantar. Make the whole country a Jantar Mantar,” he said.
After being detained, Kejriwal demanded Kumar’s resignation, saying, “The youth of the country is awake. They are not afraid of Modi ji’s tyranny. Now CEC Gyanesh Kumar has to resign. People are not going to tolerate his vote theft anymore.”
Mamata dubs crackdown a ‘Super Emergency’
Mamata was detained along with Trinamool Congress leaders from South Avenue, where they staged a sit-in after being stopped from proceeding to Jantar Mantar. Accompanied by TMC leaders Derek O’Brien, Dola Sen, Samirul Islam, Pratima Mondal and Saket Gokhale, she wore a band-aid over her mouth during the protest.
Also read: CJP protest: As BJP hails crackdown, party leader’s daughter tweets about her detention
“This has gone beyond an Emergency; it has become a Super Emergency,” she said, adding that the police action was neither right for the country nor its people. “Our message is simple — Save India and Save Democracy,” she said, adding that the group had initially planned to sit there till 5 pm.
Left leaders condemn police action
Vijayan was detained along with Sarkar, Baby and Karat as they attempted to proceed to Jantar Mantar. Several Left leaders were detained outside Kerala Bhawan, where some CPI(M) leaders had stayed overnight. They raised slogans against the government before being taken away in buses.
Vijayan later took to X to post, “Imagine being so scared of the Opposition that you make the Delhi Police detain elected reps and drive them around in circles for an hour just to keep them quiet. Modi’s panic is really showing here, and honestly, it’s just embarrassing at this point. Such high-handed tactics are a blatant attack on our democratic rights, but we will not be intimidated.”
Activists, students picked up across Delhi
Sarkar was detained along with CITU All India General Secretary Elamaram Kareem, student activists and trade union leaders at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Bawana.
Meanwhile, Bhattacharya, Yadav, Bhushan and All India Students’ Association (AISA) president Neha were detained near INA market while marching towards Safdarjung Flyover. CPI(ML) Liberation leader Balaji said they were raising slogans against Kumar when police detained them and took them away in different vehicles.
Also read: TVK’s SIR contradiction: Ally CPI’s youth, student wing cadres held in anti-CEC stir
Bhattacharya criticised the security deployment, saying the restrictions had failed to prevent people from joining the protest.
“To save Gyanesh Kumar, Modi govt made whole Delhi a police camp, thousands of police personnel are there yet the number of people who came on the streets it said you can stop one Jantar Mantar, but the spirit of Jantar Mantar, the spirit of movement has spread,” he said.
Detained students launch hunger strike
Separately, Rajya Sabha member AA Rahim and detained Students’ Federation of India (SFI) activists announced a hunger strike at Nangloi Stadium, where around 300 students had been detained. They demanded action against and an apology from a Delhi Police inspector who allegedly misbehaved with students, besides the return of mobile phones and bags they claimed had been taken away by police.
In a statement, the CPI(M) condemned the detention of hundreds of youth and student protesters, alleging that police had turned the capital into a fortress and prevented people from reaching the designated protest site.
It said hundreds of activists from the Democratic Youth Federation of India, SFI and other organisations had gathered despite barricades and police action, alleging that several protesters were injured after being manhandled and thrown into buses.
(With agency inputs)