NEW DELHI — Indian police detained around 3,000 protesters and opposition leaders across New Delhi on Saturday as authorities moved to prevent a mass rally organised by the youth-led Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), which was demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Although many detainees, including women and elderly protesters, were released later in the day, four people—including CJP founder Abhijit Deepke and popular YouTuber Dhruv Rathee—remained in custody, according to the report.
Police and central paramilitary forces maintained a heavy security presence across the capital from Saturday morning to prevent the rally from taking place. With access to Jantar Mantar blocked, demonstrations spread to several parts of the city.
Among those detained were Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat, activist Yogendra Yadav, lawyer Prashant Bhushan and CPI leader D. Raja. Several detainees were taken to stadiums being used as temporary detention facilities.
Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, expressed solidarity with the protesters in a social media post from Chennai.
“Arrest all the leaders and young people. Detain all of us together—we will not back down,” he wrote.
CJP founder Abhijit Deepke and two other party leaders, Ashutosh Ranka and Sourav Das, were detained at the airport upon arriving in Delhi. Deepke’s grandmother reportedly died in Maharashtra, but police had not immediately made a final decision on whether he would be allowed to attend her funeral.
YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was also detained in Gurugram as the authorities intensified their action against those associated with the protest.
Opposition leaders condemn crackdown
Banerjee, who staged a symbolic protest by placing a bandage over her mouth, described the situation as a “super emergency” worse than the Emergency imposed in India in 1975.
Kejriwal, after his release, issued a defiant warning to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying, “Modiji, you will run out of space in your jails!”
Social activist Sonam Wangchuk warned that he might launch an indefinite hunger strike or a march if the detained protesters were not released immediately.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, defended the government’s response. Party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad described the movement as an attempt to create anarchy, arguing that India was not a “banana republic” and that the country should be governed through Parliament rather than street protests.
Security remained heightened across New Delhi on Sunday amid concerns over further demonstrations.
The opposition INDIA bloc announced plans to submit a memorandum to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Monday, signalling a possible escalation of its challenge to the authorities’ handling of the protests.
The detentions and restrictions have intensified the political confrontation between the government and opposition groups, with protesters demanding accountability from the Election Commission and opposition leaders accusing the authorities of suppressing dissent.
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