Mamata Banerjee detained — the headline that defined Saturday’s churn in the capital. The former West Bengal chief minister sat on a dharna at the South Avenue bus stand after Delhi Police blocked her route to Jantar Mantar, and was then detained along with five Trinamool MPs — Derek O’Brien, Dola Sen, Pratima Mondal, Samirul Islam and Saket Gokhale. The group was taken away in a prisoner van and driven around for about 30 minutes to an undisclosed location; Banerjee wore a band-aid over her mouth in silent protest. She had arrived in Delhi on Friday after an INDIA bloc delegation met President Droupadi Murmu demanding the CEC’s removal.
Minutes after posting his “Dilli Chalo” message, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal was also detained. He shared a video from inside a bus saying he and Sanjay Singh had been held, declaring “the youth of India will not be scared.” AAP alleged Kejriwal was “manhandled” and that Gopal Rai, Saurabh Bharadwaj and Durgesh Pathak were detained too — claims police had not confirmed at the time of reporting. Former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and CPI(M) MP John Brittas were detained around 11:23 am and taken to the Chhatrasal Stadium detention centre. Read our morning report on how the day began with Abhijeet Dipke detained at Delhi airport.
Mamata Banerjee Detained: “Bigger Than Emergency” Charge
Before her detention, Banerjee called the situation “bigger than Emergency,” saying opposition leaders had come to express solidarity with the detained youth. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the government had turned the “Mother of Democracy” into “Muzzled Democracy,” vowing a united opposition fight against the “tyrannical regime.” Shashi Tharoor posted: “A government confident in the fairness of its elections would welcome questions about them… The government should provide answers, not lathis; expression, not repression.” NCP’s Supriya Sule called the plane detentions “incorrect and unconstitutional,” asking if this was an “undeclared emergency.” The BJP’s Sambit Patra dismissed the protest as a “flop show,” claiming “‘loktantra’ has triumphed over ‘bheedtantra.'”
The detentions capped a morning that began with CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka being detained by officers who boarded their aircraft after landing in Delhi — Dipke’s own video showed him saying “We are here to be arrested.” YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was detained at his Gurugram residence around 9:48 am. Over 400 SFI members and lawyers marching from the Supreme Court toward Jantar Mantar were detained, as were AISA president Neha Bora, Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan and CPI(ML)’s Dipankar Bhattacharya. Dipke named organisation in-charge Ajinkya Shinde to lead the protest from a pre-recorded video. The full restrictions backdrop is in our Delhi CJP protest restrictions explainer.
40,000 Personnel and a Fortress Around an Empty Jantar Mantar
The scale of the security operation was unprecedented: over 40,000 personnel — more than 15,000 Delhi Police and about 26,000 central forces including five-plus all-women companies — the largest Delhi deployment since the 2020 riots, with the New Delhi district split into 20 operational zones and three stadiums converted into detention centres.
Entry and exit gates at 45 metro stations were shut (revised down from 57 after a Friday Supreme Court directive barred a complete shutdown), over 245 trains were cancelled, and mobile internet was suspended in a 4-km radius of Janpath–Kartavya Path from 10 pm Friday to 10 pm Saturday, with drones watching the New Delhi area. PTI reported around 500 protesters detained on Saturday trying to reach Jantar Mantar; HT put overnight detentions above 1,000.
Near Akashwani Bhawan, officials said protesters toppled barricades and pelted stones, leaving two police personnel with minor injuries.
The crackdown turned a fringe Gen-Z party’s protest into the first street-level convergence of the entire INDIA bloc — four former chief ministers detained in a single day. The real question now is whether “vote chori” and the SIR become the opposition’s unifying theme the way the farmers’ protest once did, with Himachal CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu saying Congress would approach the Supreme Court again on Monday. In a sombre footnote, Dipke’s grandmother passed away on Saturday; Delhi Police informed him and offered him the option to fly back for the last rites. Track the wider electoral-roll battle in our ‘vote chori’ memorandum coverage. Source: Hindustan Times live blog and NDTV.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was Arvind Kejriwal also detained?
Yes. Kejriwal was detained minutes after posting his "Dilli Chalo" message on October 10. He shared a video from a bus saying he and Sanjay Singh had been held. AAP alleged he was "manhandled," which police had not confirmed.
Which other leaders were detained during the CJP protest?
Former Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan and CPI(M) MP John Brittas, AISA president Neha Bora, Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan, CPI(ML)'s Dipankar Bhattacharya, Dhruv Rathee, and over 400 SFI members and lawyers marching from the Supreme Court.
How big was the security deployment in Delhi?
Over 40,000 personnel — 15,000+ Delhi Police and ~26,000 central forces — the largest since the 2020 riots. Gates at 45 metro stations were shut, 245+ trains cancelled, and mobile internet suspended in central Delhi from 10 pm Friday to 10 pm Saturday.
What is the CJP protesting about?
The Cockroach Janata Party's Jantar Mantar protest demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged electoral-roll irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision. Delhi Police had denied permission for the gathering, and the Election Commission rejects the "vote chori" allegations.
