‘Will be back tomorrow’: youth groups vow to continue protests until Gyanesh Kumar resigns

Neha Bora, national president of the All India Students’ Association (AISA), shouts from a police vehicle after being detained during a protest organized by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) demanding the resignation of India’s Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar October 10, 2026 | Photo credit: Reuters

Leaders of youth and student organizations on Saturday (October 10, 2026) vowed to continue their protest until all their demands are met, including the withdrawal of the Special Intensive Review (SIR) and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, despite the detention of several key organizers ahead of a planned Cockroach Janta Party demonstration.

“Tomorrow we will come back and walk again towards Jantar Mantar,” Ajinkya Shinde, the national organization in charge of the CJP, told a joint press conference with representatives of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and the All India Students’ Federation (AISF) later in the evening.

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CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and co-organizers Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das were detained on arrival at the Delhi airport. Hours later, Aishe Ghosh of SFI and Neha Bora of AISA were also arrested along with other members of the Left Front.

“All these detentions show the fascist nature of the government and how they fear the youth after the July protest. They stopped buses and trains to prevent us from gathering. They stopped everything they had under their control except air and water. Protesters, students and citizens were all tracked and detained,” Shinde said.

He said this was just the beginning of the struggle and the protests would not stop “until Gyanesh Kumar resigns”.

Shinde will lead the protest

Mr. Shinde was appointed as the leader of the protest soon after the top leadership of the CJP was detained. In a video message posted on X after their arrest, Mr. Dipke said, “If you are watching this video, it means that Ashutosh Ranka, Saurav Das and I have been taken into custody. The movement does not end here. Ajinkya Shinde will lead the protest at Jantar Mantar as long as we remain in custody. Please follow Ajinkya Shinde as he carries this struggle forward.”

Anticipating the arrest, Mr Dipke recorded a video message on Friday (October 9) evening.

Mr. Shinde alleged that the police did not allow Mr. Dipke to speak to his lawyer or family on the phone even after the news of the death of Mr. Dipke’s grandmother.

The CJP said Mr. Dipke, Mr. Das and Mr. Ranka were taken to different places in the Delhi-NCR region.

“Wherever the protesters were stopped, it became Jantar Mantar. How do they stop so many people? We are fighting for our democratic rights, voting rights and we will fight till the very end. This is the first time such serious allegations have been leveled against the Election Commission of India,” said SFI General Secretary Srijan Bhattacharya.

Published – 10 October 2026 20:55 IST