On Saturday, Delhi Police moved into Jantar Mantar, detaining 1,500 people, including four former chief ministers—Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee, Pinarayi Vijayan and Manik Sarkar—after the Cockroach Janta Party urged a march demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke was seized upon arrival at Indira Gandhi International Airport, while leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das were taken from a private jet. Dipke remained in custody while his paternal grandmother passed away in Maharashtra; the police said he could leave for the funeral but did not confirm his release before evening.
Around 25,000 police and paramilitary personnel were deployed, 45 metro stations remained closed, and more than 250 trains were canceled. Internet was suspended within a four‑kilometre radius of the observatory.
Rahul Gandhi, still in Chennai, posted on X urging the arrest of all protest leaders and supporters, declaring that “Arrest us all” and that the youth would not back down.
BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad defended Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls, claiming the country has never bowed and that protests without permission would inconvenience people.
Police have warned that any further attempts to march will be met with force, and they plan to keep the heavy deployment in place into Sunday while monitoring for new protests.