Anti-CEC protest: Four ex-CMs among leaders detained, call Centre's clampdown 'Super Emergency'

NEW DELHI: Several Opposition leaders, including four former chief ministers, were detained by Delhi Police on Saturday as they attempted to join the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP)-led protest at Jantar Mantar, demanding Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar's resignation over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls.

Former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar were detained amid a wider police clampdown across the national capital. Accusing the Modi government of subverting democracy, the leaders later said they had been released from police custody after spending hours in detention.

Vijayan was detained along with Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas and former Kerala minister KN Balagopal outside Kerala House as they attempted to proceed to Jantar Mantar. Sarkar was detained along with CITU All India general secretary Elamaram Kareem, student activists and trade union leaders at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Bawana.

Police also detained several Left leaders, including CPI(M) general secretary MA Baby and Brinda Karat.

Reacting to the detention, Vijayan wrote on X: "Imagine being so scared of the opposition that you make the Delhi Police detain elected reps and drive them around in circles for an hour just to keep them quiet."

"Modi's panic is really showing here, and honestly, it's just embarrassing at this point. Such high-handed tactics are a blatant attack on our democratic rights, but we will not be intimidated," he added.

.Pinarayi, Mamata, Kejriwal: What Their Detentions Mean For Democracy .

Kejriwal was detained outside his Lodhi Estate residence while marching towards Jantar Mantar with AAP leaders and workers. Before his detention, Kejriwal criticised the Centre over what he described as a security clampdown in Delhi that was "worse than Emergency".

After his detention, the former Delhi chief minister shared a video on X in which he said the country's youth had awakened and asserted that protesters would not be intimidated.

In the video, Kejriwal, who was accompanied by AAP leader Sanjay Singh, said, "The youth of the country has awakened. We are not going to be intimidated by Modi's tyranny. Now, Gyanesh Kumar will have to resign. People will not tolerate this stealing of votes anymore. You all should also come out of your homes and fight to save the country."

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Meanwhile, Banerjee was detained along with Trinamool Congress MPs from South Avenue, where they staged a sit-in after being stopped from proceeding to Jantar Mantar.

Banerjee, accompanied by TMC leaders Derek O'Brien, Dola Sen, Samirul Islam, Pratima Mondal and Saket Gokhale, wore a band-aid over her mouth during the protest.

"This has gone beyond an Emergency; it has become a Super Emergency. Maintaining peace and remaining calm is the most important thing, but what they are doing today is not right, neither for the country nor for its people," she said.

Commenting on the police action against protesters who had gathered in response to the CJP's call, Banerjee said, "I do not think they should be doing all this, because by taking such actions, they are only making the protesters more popular."

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CPI(M-L) Liberation chief Dipankar Bhattacharya, activist Yogendra Yadav, lawyer Prashant Bhushan and AISA president Neha Bora were detained near INA market while marching towards Safdarjung Flyover.

Bhattacharya criticised the security deployment, saying the restrictions had failed to prevent people from joining the protest. "To save Gyanesh Kumar, Modi govt made whole Delhi a police camp, thousands of police personnel are there yet the number of people who came on the streets it said you can stop one Jantar Mantar, but the spirit of Jantar Mantar, the spirit of movement has spread," he said.

Although the Congress has consistently maintained its distance from the CJP, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra extended support to the young protesters as the demonstrations gathered momentum despite the police clampdown. They did not name the CJP.

Taking to social media, Gandhi praised India's youth and urged them to continue the agitation. "Keep protesting. We are standing with you," he wrote on X, adding: "We are going to ensure that this regime and the people who have attacked our Constitution are defeated."

"Mr Modi, do whatever you want. Call out all the police: 10,000, 20,000, 50,000, whatever you want. Arrest all the leaders. Arrest all the young people. Arrest us all," Gandhi wrote.

"We are surrounding you, and we are not going to back down. Mark my words: we already have the information we need. We will defend our Constitution. We will protect the voice of the Indian people. And we are going to ensure that what was done to India over the last 10-15 years will never, ever be done again. We are going to ensure that this regime and the people who have attacked our Constitution are defeated," he added.

.Delhi stir: Sibal questions legality of detentions, says protesters taken to undisclosed locations.Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp