www.thestatesman.com | India’s National Newspaper since 1818 FOLLOW US: | @TheStatesmanLtd Pages 18 | ` 5.00 8th Day From steel to sweets @thestatesmanltd | KOLKATA LC People’s Parliament, Always in Session thestatesman1875 | NEW DELHI | MUMBAI | BHUBANESWAR Evolve | LUCKNOW | SILIGURI | 11 October 2026 S P O RT S Why Captain Smit wins hearts Another run fest looms as India face WI in Indore Page 18 Hundreds detained in crackdown, National Capital turned into fortress Supreme Court to hear today contempt plea over protest curbs: PARWINDER SANDHU New Delhi, 10 October A planned demonstration against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls triggered widespread detentions, traffic restrictions and a massive security deployment across Delhi on Saturday, with INDIA bloc leaders, students and activists among hundreds taken into custody as they tried to reach Jantar Mantar. Former chief ministers Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Pinarayi Vijayan and Manik Sarkar were among those detained at different locations. Others taken into custody included CPI-M general secretary M A Baby, veteran Left leader Brinda Karat, CPI-ML Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, activist Yogendra Yadav and lawyer New Delhi: The Supreme Court is likely to hold a special sitting on Sunday to hear a contempt petition alleging the that the blanket closure of Delhi Metro stations and train services in Delhi to prevent the gathering of anti-Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) protesters amounted to a violation of the court's directions. A bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana is expected to hold the special hearing. Filed by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi, the plea alleged that the authorities’ actions amounted to a “brutal assault” on citizens’ fundamental rights and a deliberate disregard of the court’s directions to the Centre to ensure there was no “complete prohibition” of metro and train services to Delhi because of the protest. Prashant Bhushan. The demonstration was called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) along with Left and student organisations to demand Mr Kumar’s resignation and the withdrawal of the SIR exercise. The protesters also raised concerns over changes relating to Form 6, used for voter registration, alleging that the electoral roll revision process threatened voting rights. The police action began on Friday night, with the CJP alleging that its founder and convener Abhijeet Dipke, spokesperson Saurav Das and co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka were detained aboard their flight from Mumbai shortly after it landed in Delhi. In a video released by the CJP, Mr Dipke was heard telling police personnel entering the aircraft: “We are here to be arrested, come and arrest us.” Aishe Ghosh, national joint secretary of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) , was detained near Gurudwara Bangla Sahib’s Gol Chakkar. The CJP alleged that police entered the gurdwara premises and detained volunteers who had taken shelter there. Mamata Banerjee was detained in the South Avenue area along with Trinamul leaders Derek O'Brien, Dola Sen and other party members. Mr Vijayan, who was also detained, accused the NDA government of using police and paramilitary forces to restrict democratic dissent. The SFI alleged that police used force against demonstrators during two marches organised with the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and other Left organisations, leaving several protesters injured. Separately, the Supreme Court Bar Association sought the intervention of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant following reports that lawyers had been detained during a protest near the Supreme Court. BJP labels INDIA bloc, CJP ‘anarchists’, alleges plot to destabilise India STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 10 October The BJP on Saturday accused the Rahul Gandhi-led INDIA bloc and the CJP of attempting to destabilise the country, calling them “anarchist” groups and asserting that the protests were “driven by political motives and foreign forces.” The party also accused Mr Gandhi of “disrespecting constitutional institutions by using a meeting with President Droupadi Murmu to make false claims.”“It is highly unusual in this country for sources close to the President to explicitly state that the remarks made by the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) regarding the President are incorrect. Rahul Gandhi, your falsehoods have now been exposed even by sources close to the President,” BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said. BJP president Nitin Nabin alleged that a “dangerous anarchic battle” was being waged by the INDIA bloc and the CJP to disrupt the country’s peace, harmony and development. “Frustrated by being repeatedly rejected by the public in our democracy, the Opposition is now hatching a deep conspiracy to spread instability and anarchy in Bharat at the behest of foreign powers,” he said. He added that these groups were unable to accept the country’s progress and emergence as a strong, self-reliant nation despite global crises. “On one side, the INDIA bloc led by Rahul Gandhi, and on the other, groups like Arvind Kejriwal’s ally CJP, have joined hands and are engaged in a dangerous anarchic competition to disrupt the peace, harmony, and rapid development of the nation,” he told the media. Mr Prasad said the events of the preceding three days and Saturday had demonstrated that Indian democracy had defeated attempts to promote anarchy, citing the BJP’s electoral performance in Assam, West Bengal and Puducherry.