Security personnel run towards demonstrators to disperse them during a protest organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged electoral roll irregularities, at Connaught Place, in New Delhi, Saturday, October 10. PTI
Delhi protests LIVE | Over 7,000 detained; CJP: Will march to Jantar Mantar again on Sunday
SC to hear special petition tomorrow on Delhi curbs; police go on detention spree to stop anti-CEC protests
Delhi turned into a veritable battle zone—as well as a prison zone for the Opposition—on Saturday (October 10), when several INDIA bloc leaders, including four former chief ministers—TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, CPM veteran Pinarayi Vijayan, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, and Manik Sarkar, were detained for trying to join the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) anti-CEC protest call at Jantar Mantar.
Apart from Mamata and Pinarayi, Delhi Police have detained over 7,000 people including CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, CJP's Ratna Singh, Sourav Das and many journalists and content creators.
Senior Left leaders like MP John Brittas and MA Baby, along with Pinarayi, were taken to Chhatrasal Stadium briefly before reportedly being driven around in a police jeep, Brittas alleged. They were later taken to Mandir Marg Police Station. Veteran Left leader Brinda Karat, CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, activist Yogendra Yadav and lawyer Prashant Bhushan were also among those detained.
Also read: Meet the faces of India’s Gen Z protest movement
Kejriwal was detained outside his Lodhi Estate residence while marching towards Jantar Mantar with AAP leaders and workers. 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.
Dipke detained from aircraft
Mamata and other TMC MPs were detained from South Avenue, while many journalists trying to cover the protests were allegedly detained along with the Opposition leaders. Tushar Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson, was reportedly detained in Mumbai.
Also read: ‘Undeclared Emergency’: Opposition leaders slam Modi govt over detentions in Delhi
Dipke's detention was dramatic. A Delhi Police team boarded the aircraft carrying him after it landed in Delhi and detained him. Dipke went live on Instagram as the officers entered the plane. The video shows the police team boarding the flight, and Dipke, along with fellow CJP members Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, being detained on board.
A defiant Dipke said CJP's Ajinkya Shinde would lead the Jantar Mantar protest, while AISA chief Neha Bora launched a protest in Dilli Haat along with other activists. Neha was alsod detained soon afterwards. After days of intense protests, Congress was missing in action as Rahul Gandhi left for Chennai for his prescheduled Chhatron ki Goonj event.
Jantar Mantar wears a deserted look
Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site, wore a deserted look throughout the day, with the deployment of over 30,000 security personnel and waves of barricades in Lutyens' Delhi to keep the protesters away from the area.
Opposition parties likened the situation to one worse than the Emergency, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi urging the youth to "keep protesting" and asserting that "we are going to ensure that this regime and the people who have attacked the Constitution are defeated".
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge lashed out at the Modi government over the detentions by Delhi police, saying it has turned the "mother of democracy" into a "muzzled democracy". The Congress chief alleged that the cowardice of the BJP-RSS is on full display today.
The Congress, which has been holding protests demanding the resignation of the CEC over alleged vote theft, however, maintained its distance from the CJP protest.
CJP to march to Jantar Mantar again tomorrow
On Saturday evening, CJP said it was not "backing down" and announced that it will march to Jantar Mantar again tomorrow (October 11).
"The Modi government fears that if we unite again, their throne will be at stake. But we’re not backing down. We will march to Jantar Mantar again tomorrow and stay there until all our demands are met," CJP said.
Read live updates here.
Live Updates
- 10 Oct 2026 3:16 PM IST
Neha Bora, Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan detained in Delhi
All India Students’ Association (AISA) president Neha Bora has been detained in Delhi along with activist Yogendra Yadav, senior advocate Prashant Bhushan and general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya as they attempted to lead a march towards Dilli Haat.
Delhi Police closed roads leading to the venue as the group headed towards the protest site. The demonstrators reportedly gathered around a police bus carrying the detained leaders near the Safdarjung Airport flyover.
The detentions came as Delhi Police and paramilitary personnel stepped up security across the capital to stop protesters from reaching Jantar Mantar, where demonstrations had been planned.
- 10 Oct 2026 3:11 PM IST
CPI(M) MP A A Rahim begins hunger strike after alleged beating in custody
CPI(M) A A Rahim MP and other SFI leaders were allegedly beaten during detention, protesters claim. Rahim starts a hunger strike while in custody.
- 10 Oct 2026 3:00 PM IST
Mamata Banerjee defiant after detention: ‘The battle will go on’
Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she would continue the fight after Delhi Police detained her and five Trinamool Congress MPs during a protest in the capital on Saturday. She said the group had been demonstrating peacefully but was not allowed to sit at the site.
“We don't care, we're not afraid. Everyone knows what's happening in the country. The battle will go on,” Banerjee said.
The Trinamool Congress said Banerjee, along with MPs Derek O'Brien, Dola Sen, Pratima Mondal, Samirul Islam and Saket Gokhale, was put in a police “prisoner van” and taken away.
According to the party, the vehicle had been driving around for 30 minutes without taking them to a known destination. The TMC condemned the action as “nothing short of an assault on democratic rights”.
The detention took place amid protests in Delhi demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls. Banerjee had earlier indicated that she would join the demonstration.
- 10 Oct 2026 2:50 PM IST
'Cowardice of the BJP-RSS is on full display today': Kharge
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday accused the Narendra Modi government of suppressing dissent, alleging that students, journalists, lawyers, activists and other voices critical of the regime were being detained amid protests in Delhi.
In a post on X, Kharge said, “Our youth, students, lawyers, journalists, social activists, farm union leaders, You Tubers, content creators, everyone who is questioning this regime are being detained.”
He accused the government of silencing dissent, saying it had turned the “Mother of Democracy” into a “Muzzled Democracy”.
“The cowardice of the BJP-RSS is on full display today,” Kharge wrote, referring to the arrests and police action against protesters.
He also said the crackdown would not stop people from raising their voices. “Detentions, arrests, jails, lathis and pellets cannot deter the people of India,” he said.
Kharge pledged that the Congress, along with Opposition parties, would continue its fight against the government. “The Congress Party, along with the united Opposition, will fight this tyrannical regime, tooth and nail,” he added.
He said that the party would defend the Constitution and citizens’ rights, declaring, “We shed our blood to win India’s freedom. We will continue to fight, with every ounce of our strength, to defend our Democracy, our Constitution and the fundamental rights of every Indian.”
- 10 Oct 2026 2:36 PM IST
Mamata Banerjee, five TMC leaders allegedly detained in Delhi
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and five Trinamool Congress leaders were detained outside her Delhi residence on Saturday, former MP Saket Gokhale claimed, amid heightened tensions over the Cockroach Janata Party’s (CJP) protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. She has been detained from South Avenue along with Dola Sen, Derek O'Brien, and other TMC leaders.
"Mamata Didi and five of us have been detained in a prisoner van by Delhi Police and CRPF from outside her residence," Gokhale said in a post on social media.
He added that they were being taken to an unknown location.
Gokhale described the alleged detention as the “death of democracy in India”, as police stepped up security across the capital and detained protesters attempting to reach demonstration sites.
Banerjee had earlier hinted that she would join the protest, which has drawn opposition leaders, student groups and activists demanding Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The claim of Banerjee’s detention was made by Gokhale. No independent confirmation was included in the his statement.
- 10 Oct 2026 2:28 PM IST
Pinarayi Vijayan, John Brittas, KN Balagopal taken to Mandir Marg Police Station
Former Keralam CM Pinarayi Vijayan, CP(I)M MP John Brittas and KN Balagopal have been brought to Mandir Marg Police station.
- 10 Oct 2026 2:26 PM IST
VHP questions funding for Delhi protest, urges public to back police
The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Saturday questioned who was funding the protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, alleging that large sums were being spent to organise the demonstration against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the electoral roll revision.
VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal claimed that 10 to 15 lawyers appeared in the Supreme Court on Friday over the shutdown of train and Metro services ahead of the protest. He alleged they charged Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore per hearing.
"Who paid Rs 15 crore to Rs 30 crore to these lawyers for this single hearing? Who are the people playing this game behind the scenes? There is massive funding for these protests," he said.
Bansal further alleged, without naming the party or providing evidence, that a group linked to the Ford Foundation would join the demonstration. He cited the involvement of a prominent American industrialist and the US vice president, claiming an effort to "undermine India's sovereignty".
He urged citizens to support security forces as their "eyes, ears, nose and shield" and stay alert to what he described as attempts to turn India into Nepal or Bangladesh.
- 10 Oct 2026 2:15 PM IST
Bengal minister Agnimitra Paul accuses CJP of trying to destabilise India
West Bengal minister Agnimitra Paul on Saturday accused the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) of trying to destabilise the country through its proposed protest in Delhi, alleging that the demonstration was aimed at disrupting the development agenda of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“What they are doing is against the nation. They are behaving in an anti-national manner,” Paul told reporters.
She alleged that the protest was an attempt to derail the Centre’s development plans. “They (CJP) want to derail the development process envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on some pretext or the other,” she said.
Paul also alleged that secessionist forces were helping the Left and the CJP in an effort to destabilise the country. She did not cite specific evidence for the allegation in the remarks provided.
The CJP protest in Delhi has been called to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The proposed demonstration has been accompanied by a heavy police deployment and detentions across parts of the capital.
- 10 Oct 2026 2:12 PM IST
CPM MP V Sivadasan hospitalised after injuries at Jantar Mantar
CPM Rajya Sabha MP V Sivadasan has been hospitalised after sustaining injuries during the police action against protesters in Delhi. He was injured while being dragged at the Jantar Mantar protest.
