Delhi Police detain hundreds as CJP protest against Chief Election Commissioner is blocked
Police denied permission and sealed central Delhi on 10 October; about 500 were detained by midday, lawyers were released after the CJI's office intervened, and parties traded charges.
Delhi Police detained about 500 people by midday on Saturday, 10 October 2026, as protesters tried to reach Jantar Mantar for a demonstration called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and allied student and Left groups, The Hindu reported, citing officials. The protest seeks the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and a rollback of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. This report reflects accounts published up to about 3 pm IST and the situation was still changing.
Restrictions in force
Police had refused permission for the protest. Al Jazeera reported that police said the request was not made on time and that the CJP had violated undertakings given during earlier protests. The Indian Express reported that the Union Home Ministry, to which Delhi Police reports, made 221 companies of Central Armed Police Forces, about 23,000 personnel, available until Monday. The Hindu said prohibitory orders were in force and the New Delhi district was divided into 20 sectors.
The Hindu reported 45 Metro stations shut; Al Jazeera, citing the news agency ANI, reported 57 stations closed and mobile internet suspended within 4 km of the protest area until Saturday night. Indian Railways cancelled 245 trains, The Indian Express reported. On 9 October the Supreme Court said that a complete Metro shutdown was not to be ordered.
What happened on the day
The Hindu reported that CJP leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained at Delhi airport on arrival, and that Left leaders including Pinarayi Vijayan, Brinda Karat and Manik Sarkar were also detained. Around noon, officials said, 25 to 30 protesters jumped barricades on Imtiaz Ali Marg near Akashvani Bhawan and threw stones at security personnel, injuring two. The Hindu’s report attributed the stone-pelting to officials and used the word “allegedly”.
Lawyers protesting outside the Supreme Court were taken to the Yamuna Sports Complex and released after nearly two hours. The Supreme Court Bar Association and the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association passed resolutions to the Chief Justice of India, and SCAORA’s president told The Hindu that the CJI’s office later communicated that the Delhi Police Commissioner had been asked to ensure their release.
The CJP says at least 10,000 people have been detained nationwide, Al Jazeera reported; that figure has not been independently confirmed in the reports reviewed.
Background
This is the latest in a series of protests against the Chief Election Commissioner. On 6 October, INDIA bloc MPs marched towards the Election Commission, and Delhi Police later registered an FIR against two Congress leaders. The Hindu reported that the opposition’s push followed an Indian Express report that two Election Commissioners had recorded objections at least 14 times over 10 months, mostly on SIR-related decisions. The Election Commission has said differing views are normal and that its orders carry full legal sanction.
What happens next
The CJP has said the protest will continue with or without its leadership, The Hindu reported. The Supreme Court has separately issued notice to the Election Commission and the Centre on a plea about how decisions are taken in the Commission. The reports reviewed do not say whether police will register cases over the day’s events.
Perspectives
Listed in no particular order and given equal space. Inclusion is not endorsement.
The protest organisers and opposition parties say
- CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said the government would “rather shut down the entire national capital” than allow a peaceful protest at a designated site; the CPI(M) and AAP described the detentions as repression, with Arvind Kejriwal calling them “worse than the emergency”.
- Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on X that Gyanesh Kumar “will go” and “this government will go”; the Election Commission has said that differing views are a normal part of its deliberations and that its orders carry full legal sanction.
The authorities and the BJP say
- Delhi Police said, according to Al Jazeera, that the request for the rally was not made on time and that the CJP had violated undertakings given during earlier protests, and warned of a forceful response to any violation of the ban.
- BJP president Nitin Nabin accused Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal and the CJP of trying to create anarchy and said the government would deal sternly with such attempts; the BJP says the opposition is misleading the country. Mr Gandhi, Mr Kejriwal and the CJP have not accepted these charges.
Sources
- Anti-CEC protest: Police pelted with stones near Akashwani Bhawan; two injured — The Hindu
- Anti-CEC protest in Delhi top developments: detentions, curbs, crackdown — The Hindu
- Lawyers detained outside Supreme Court released after CJI's intervention — The Hindu
- India deploys police and restricts transport ahead of mass protest in Delhi — Al Jazeera
- Delhi lockdown: CJP protest on October 10 — The Indian Express
- BJP govt will deal with 'anarchists' sternly: Nitin Nabin — The Hindu
- 'Gyanesh Kumar will go, this government will go': Rahul Gandhi — The Hindu
