500 detained in Delhi on Day 3 of protests seeking CEC’s exit; Thackerays lead Mumbai march

You don’t have any Active Subscription.

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

Neha Bora student protest march from India Gate to Jantar Mantar, demanding the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar in New Delhi on October 4, 2026. | Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

Protests seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and the suspension of the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls entered their third day on Sunday (October 4, 2026), with demonstrations continuing in New Delhi and Mumbai.

The protests began on October 2, on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, with thousands of people, including leaders of Opposition parties, civil society activists, and members of youth and student organisations, taking part.

On Sunday (October 4, 2026), confrontations took place in New Delhi between protesters, who were trying to reach Jantar Mantar, and the Delhi Police, who had heavily barricaded the area. The police stopped the march on Ashoka Road and detained nearly 500 people. Those picked up from central Delhi and driven away in 10-15 buses included a woman journalist who had alleged sexual harassment and manhandling by a policeman while covering Saturday’s protest.

In Mumbai, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray led a march seeking the CEC’s removal and the scrapping of the ongoing SIR drive. Leaders from the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar (NCP-SP) also participated in the ‘Virat Garjana Morcha’ from Metro Cinema to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters, which drew nearly 6,000 participants.

Several videos of confrontations between protesters and the police in New Delhi were circulated on social media, one of which showed protesters purportedly breaking the rear window of a bus, in which they were being driven away, and jumping out.

The All India Students’ Association (AISA) alleged that its national president, Neha Bora, was picked up by police personnel in a private car from Ashoka Road around 5 p.m. and that her whereabouts were not immediately known. The group alleged that the personnel who picked her up were not wearing name tags. She was later released from the Narela Industrial Area police station.

Upon her release, Ms. Bora said, “They think we are dogs, cockroaches or insects that they can pick us up, throw us into vehicles, take us 50 kilometres away, beat us, and push us around. But today, we showed that we are citizens of this country.”

“We have the right to question those in power and ask how the Election Commission and the ruling party are dealing with our votes. If we are repeatedly detained for protesting at a designated protest site, then returning to that place and reclaiming our right to protest is also our right,” the AISA chief added.

Among those who joined the protest in the Capital was 83-year-old screenwriter and director Saeed Akhtar Mirza. “These children have faced so much. History is being created, and I want to be a part of it,” he said from a wheelchair, adding, “This regime is corrupt, communal and criminal. It should go.”

Addressing protesters in Mumbai, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray described the CEC as a “weapon” in the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party and claimed that the ruling party was using Mr. Kumar to “take away the right to vote”.

“You can control institutions, but streets belong to us,” he said, adding that the removal of “around 13 crore names” from draft rolls across the country amounted to disenfranchisement.

MNS chief Raj Thackeray sought the CEC’s removal and called for electronic voting machines (EVMs) to be replaced with ballot papers. Terming the SIR drive “illegal”, he questioned the “rise” in the number of voters between the 2024 Lok Sabha election and the Maharashtra Assembly poll later that year.

He asked the commission to state how many of those left out of the draft rolls had been identified as immigrants from Bangladesh. “Are the 2 crore people from Bangladesh? Give details. We will find them and throw them out of the country,” he said.

The MNS chief added that he had first flagged the issue of “vote theft” in 2017-18 to Opposition leaders and urged them to boycott elections. “At that time, I met several leaders, including [Congress leader] Sonia Gandhi and [Trinamool Congress president and then West Bengal Chief Minister] Mamata Banerjee, and told them to boycott elections. Otherwise, the truth will not come out,” he said.

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.