Delhi Protest: Mamata Banerjee Detained, Sonam Wangchuk Warns of Hunger Strike
New Delhi, 10th October 2026: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal were among those detained on Saturday as Delhi Police moved to prevent a planned protest at Jantar Mantar against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Dipke, along with CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, was detained from their aircraft shortly after it landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport. Police took the three leaders to separate locations across the National Capital Region. CJP legal team head Ratna Singh was also detained while attempting to participate in the protest, and later approached a court seeking action against police personnel over the alleged unlawful detention. Rathee was picked up from his Gurugram residence by a joint team of Delhi and Gurugram police.
The crackdown extended to political leaders and protesters across the capital. Banerjee was taken to Dwarka North police station, where she began an indefinite sit-in with five colleagues. Kejriwal also criticised the detentions, describing the situation as worse than the Emergency. CPI(M) leaders and other opposition figures were among those detained, while protesters gathered at Connaught Place, DDU Marg and near Akashvani Bhawan were taken away by police. More than 60 people who had spent the night at Bangla Sahib Gurdwara were also detained when they came out on Saturday morning.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi responded to the police action through posts on X. He called the ruling establishment’s defining trait “cowardice” and challenged authorities to bring in as many police personnel as they wanted and arrest opposition leaders and young protesters. Gandhi said the opposition would not retreat and would continue to defend the Constitution and the voice of the people.
Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk described India as being in an “undeclared emergency”. He said he had earlier appealed for unity and peace but had not expected so many leaders to be detained. Wangchuk warned that he would consider a hunger strike or a march if those detained were not released by the following day.
Actor Naseeruddin Shah also extended his support to the protesters through a video shared by CJP. Condemning reports of young people being beaten in Delhi the previous day, Shah reminded the government: “Sab yaad rakha jayega.”
Meanwhile, CJP announced that organisational in-charge Ajinkya Shinde would lead the demonstration in the absence of its detained leadership. Police denied permission for the gathering and imposed extensive security restrictions, including closures at 45 Metro stations and cancellations of train services.
