All India Students’ Association (AISA) members stage a protest against the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar outside Jantar Mantar, in New Delhi on September 25, 2026.
| Photo Credit: ANI
From All India Students’ Association (AISA) protest call at Jantar Mantar and Delhi Congress’ march from ITO to Nirvachan Sadan — protests demanding the resignation and arrest Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar rocked the capital city on Friday (September 25, 2026) amid the ongoing row over friction within the poll panel.
Around 50 protesters were detained from Jantar Mantar as they gathered for an agitation over the “compromise of the Election Commission”. Delhi Congress Chief Devender Yadav, CPI(ML) Liberation General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya and AISA President Nehra Bora were among those detained by the Delhi Police.
Election Commission row key highlights – September 25, 2026
New Delhi DCP Sachin Sharma said that 40-50 protesters were detained as no permission had been sought or granted to hold the protest at the venue. A senior New Delhi police official present at the spot said the protesters were later released.
The official denied allegations that police personnel were not wearing name tags, saying all personnel deployed at the spot had been wearing them. Allegations of manhandling were also denied, stating that only force required to detain the protesters and prevent them from proceeding to the protest site was used.
Further, the official said some protesters were detained at a nearby Metro station before they reached Jantar Mantar and that the organisers had been informed that the demonstration was unauthorised and had not been permitted.
Police are yet to clarify whether an FIR has been registered in connection with the incident.
Meanwhile, protesters raised their voices against the detaining of Opposition leaders, students, and civil society members.
AISA’s Neha said that students have been taken to Kanjhawala Police Station. “The Constitution also gives us the right to democratic descent, which is why we are here today. Even though we are detained today, we will continue tomorrow, and the day-after tomorrow until Gyanesh Kumar is arrested, and until all those people whose names have been deleted from voter lists, are given their right to vote back,” she said.
N. Sai Balaji, a former JNUSU President, alleged that police personnel were seen without nametags, and manhandled and abused protesting students. He added that as of 7 p.m., protesters are still in detention centres across police stations.
CPI(ML) Liberation General Secretary Mr. Bhattacharya, in a video statement while being detained, said: “Now that Gyanesh Kumar has been caught red-handed with the murder of democracy, and we have gathered to ask for his resignation, Modi and Shah, who made him CEC, have put Delhi police in front to detain us.”
“This is not just the voice raised at Jantar Mantar, it is the voice being raised from every corner of the country,” he added.
Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav, who led the Congress’ march from ITO to Nirvachan Sadan, was detained en route and taken to the I.P. Estate Police Station along with other party workers. He said that the march was a message to the Modi Government that the “soldiers of Rahul Gandhi, we are not scared of anyone” and would continue to protest Gyanesh Kumar is removed from his post as CEC and arrested.
Alleging that the Election Commission is acting as a puppet in the hands of the BJP, Mr. Yadav said: “Congress will not tolerate any attempt to undermine democracy by the Election Commission at the behest of the BJP, as the Election Commission is fraudulently deleting and adding names to the voter list, completely destroying transparency in the SIR (Special Intensive Revision) process.”
He added that winning election by stealing votes was treason as CEC Kumar had destroyed the transparent voting system to help BJP form governments in an undemocratic manner.
The student wing and the youth wing of the Congress, the National Students’ Union of India (NUSI) and the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) also carried out protests. “The vote of every Indian is sacred, and the institution responsible for protecting that vote must be beyond suspicion. The revelations surrounding the functioning of the Election Commission have raised serious questions that cannot simply be brushed aside,” IYC national President Uday Bhanu Chib said.
Published – September 25, 2026 08:32 pm IST
