500 detained in Delhi on 3rd day of protests seeking exit from CEC; The Thackerays lead the march in Mumbai

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

Watch for updates on the protest demanding the removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar

The protests began on 2 October to mark Gandhi Jayanti and were attended by thousands of people, including leaders of opposition parties, civil society activists and members of youth and student organisations.

Clashes broke out in New Delhi on Sunday (October 4, 2026) between protesters trying to enter Jantar Mantar and the Delhi Police, who heavily barricaded the area. Police stopped the march on Ashoka Road and detained nearly 500 people. A Delhi Police official said 110 arrests were made. Among those picked up from central Delhi and taken in 10 to 15 buses was a female journalist who was allegedly sexually harassed and harassed by a police officer while covering Saturday’s protest.

Around 12-15 policemen sustained injuries during the protest, the official said.

In Mumbai, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray led a march to remove the CEC and scrap the ongoing SIR unit. Leaders from the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar (NCP-SP) also took part in the ‘Virat Garjana Morcha’ from Metro Cinema to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters, which attracted nearly 6,000 participants.

Confrontation in Delhi

Several videos of confrontations between protesters and police in New Delhi have been circulating on social media, one of which showed protesters allegedly breaking the back window of the bus they were being chased in and jumping out.

The All India Students’ Association (AISA) claimed that its national president Neha Bora was picked up by police in a private car from Ashoka Road around 5:00 pm and her whereabouts were not immediately known. The group claimed that the staff who picked them up did not have name tags. She was later released from Narela Industrial Area Police Station.

After the release, Ms Bora said: “They think we are dogs, cockroaches or insects, that they can pick us up, throw us into vehicles, drive us 50 kilometers away, beat us and drive us around. But today we have shown 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 location, then it is our right to return to that location and reclaim our right to protest,” 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 made and I want to be a part of it,” he said from his wheelchair, adding: “This regime is corrupt, communal and criminal. It should go.”

Thackeray is leading the protests

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 alleged that the ruling party was using Mr Kumar to “take away the right to vote”.

“You can control the institutions, but the streets belong to us,” he said, adding that the removal of “about 13 million names” from ballots across the country amounted to disenfranchisement.

MNS chief Raj Thackeray has sought the removal of the CEC and called for replacing electronic voting machines (EVMs) with ballot papers. Calling the SIR riding “illegal”, he questioned the “surge” in voter turnout between the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the Maharashtra Assembly polls later that year.

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

The MNS chief added that he had first raised the issue of “vote theft” in 2017-18 to opposition leaders and urged them to boycott the 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 the elections. Otherwise the truth will not come out,” he said.

Published – 04 Oct 2026 22:50 IST