Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and Pinarayi Vijayan detained at Delhi protest

Several opposition leaders, including former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, were detained by Delhi Police on Saturday as they tried to join a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Banerjee and five Trinamool Congress MPs, including Derek O’Brien and Dola Sen, were detained from South Avenue in central Delhi. They had staged a protest at a bus stop after police prevented them from moving ahead.

Banerjee, who had a bandage over her mouth, said in a video recorded inside the police bus that the government was “misbehaving” with them. She added that the INDIA bloc would continue to fight to strengthen people’s voices.

Kejriwal alleges restrictions

Kejriwal was also detained when he tried to leave his residence to join the protest. Police had been stationed around his home since morning.

Speaking to reporters before his detention, Kejriwal alleged that police and paramilitary personnel were preventing people from leaving their homes and picking up those found on the streets.

He accused the authorities of trying to suppress the issue of alleged “vote chori” (vote theft) and said young people across the country were angry. He urged people to travel to Delhi to oppose what he described as attempts to undermine democracy.

Left leaders among those detained

Vijayan, CPI(M) MP John Brittas and party general secretary MA Baby were also detained. They were taken to a detention centre at Chhatrasal Stadium.

The protest was called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which has demanded Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Earlier on Saturday, CJP leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained at Indira Gandhi International Airport while on their way to Jantar Mantar to take part in the protest.

The detentions came as opposition leaders sought to join the demonstration in the national capital over the electoral roll revision process.