Politics
Delhi protests explained: Why opposition leaders were detained
Opposition leaders including Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and Pinarayi Vijayan were detained in Delhi on October 10 during protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, and reports said some were released by evening.
The protests demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Police had denied permission for the Jantar Mantar protest.
More than 30,000 security personnel were deployed, according to The Federal.
Leaders from the TMC, AAP, CPI(M) and other parties were detained.
Counts of those detained vary between reports.
Banerjee said that the situation in Delhi was beyond Emergency, according to National Herald.
Arvind Kejriwal was detained outside the residence while trying to join the demonstration, and footage showed Kejriwal in a police bus with AAP leaders, according to Oneindia.
At 8:49 pm, Kejriwal reported being released by police, according to a live blog by The Federal.
Inkl reported that Banerjee and Kejriwal were released from detention.
Kerala’s former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, MA Baby and John Brittas were taken to Chhatrasal Stadium and then to Mandir Marg police station, according to Brittas as cited by The Federal.
Manik Sarkar and Elamaram Kareem were detained at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Bawana, according to The Federal.
CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, lawyer Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav were also among those detained, according to Al Jazeera.
The CPI(M) alleged that its leaders were manhandled and denied food, water and medication, and that two of its leaders were injured, which are party allegations.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said on X that the Modi government had turned the Mother of Democracy into a Muzzled Democracy, according to Al Jazeera.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra dismissed the demonstrators as anarchic elements, said the protest had flopped and said that India was calm under good governance, according to Al Jazeera.
The protests were called against the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, which the Election Commission describes as routine.
More than 30,000 security personnel were deployed, with barricades across central Delhi, according to The Federal.
Counts of those detained varied from hundreds to more than 7,000 in different reports and could not be reconciled.
Parliament building, New Delhi (file image), Wikimedia Commons, GODL-India