Delhi protest detentions involving CPI(M) leaders, including former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas, were reported on Saturday after police imposed strict restrictions around Jantar Mantar and took protesters to Chhatrasal Stadium.
The CPI(M) said Vijayan, Brittas and former Kerala minister K N Balagopal were detained by Delhi Police during protests called by the Cockroach Janata Party, or CJP. The Left had extended support to the demonstration. The party said the three leaders were taken around the city before being brought to Chhatrasal Stadium, one of the venues where protesters were being taken.
The report did not specify the legal grounds cited by Delhi Police for the detentions. A video shared by the CPI(M) Kerala unit appeared to show Brittas asking to record the proceedings and saying, “Let me take the video. It’s my right.” The party questioned why the leaders were detained and transported away from Jantar Mantar.
In a separate post, the CPI(M) Kerala unit said several other party leaders had also been detained. Those named included M A Baby, Brinda Karat, E P Jayarajan, M V Govindan, K K Shailaja and P K Sreemathi. The party alleged that CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke was detained at Delhi airport before reaching the protest, while Dhruv Rathee was detained in Gurugram and CJP leader Saurav Das was detained at Delhi airport.
These claims were made by the party in social media posts cited in the report. The supplied report did not include a Delhi Police statement responding to the allegations or explaining the grounds for the detentions. It also did not state how many protesters had been detained in total or whether any of those taken to Chhatrasal Stadium had been released.
The protests were directed at the Election Commission and included demands concerning Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The CPI(M) said the detentions amounted to preventing people from joining a democratic protest and called for the restrictions to be lifted. Its statement also demanded Kumar’s resignation and changes to what it described as damage to the institutional framework of the Election Commission.
The reported action places renewed focus on how Delhi manages demonstrations in and around Jantar Mantar, the capital’s designated protest space. Detention, movement of protesters to venues outside the protest site and restrictions on access can affect not only political organisers but also the practical ability of citizens to assemble, observe proceedings and communicate their demands.
DMK chief and former Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin separately criticised the reported police action. He said the scenes in Delhi and the scale of what he called repression against peaceful protesters recalled the Emergency, and called for the release of political leaders, students and young protesters detained in Delhi and elsewhere. He also demanded that the Union government end what he described as an assault on the right to protest.
The immediate questions remaining are the legal basis for the detentions, the number of people held, the duration of custody and the next steps by Delhi Police and the organisers. The supplied report did not provide those details or record an official police response.
