Police detained two former Chief Ministers, Pinarayi Vijayan and Mamata Banerjee, who joined the youth groups’ protests in Delhi on Saturday (October 10, 2026) in a show of solidarity.
Mr. Vijayan, the former Keralam Chief Minister, was picked up from Kerala House, close to Jantar Mantar. Former West Bengal Chief Minister Ms. Banerjee was picked up from the South Avenue bus stand, right in front of the flats allotted to parliamentarians.
Jantar Mantar march
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) leadership managed to take the police by surprise after staying overnight at Kerala House, which is just a few metres from Jantar Mantar — a location that the police sought to make completely out of bounds for protesters. Party leaders, including general secretary M.A. Baby and senior leaders Brinda Karat, John Brittas, K.N. Balagopal, K.K. Shailaja, P. Sivadasan, and P. Rajeeve, marched out of Kerala House towards Jantar Mantar, shouting slogans. They were detained immediately by the police.
In a video message posted on social media, Ms. Karat said, “Amit Shah dekh lo, hum pahunch gaye Jantar Mantar (Look Amit Shah, we have reached Jantar Mantar)”. The group was split up, and Mr. Vijayan, along with others, were taken to Chattarasal Stadium, where other party workers and leaders turned the detention into an academic gathering, with lectures on civic issues among other things.
Forty minutes later, Mr. Vijayan, along with Mr. Brittas and Mr. Balagopal, were again put into a police jeep and taken to a different location. “If a person who served as Chief Minister for 10 years is treated like this, imagine the plight of the common man. Delhi is under siege and basic civil liberties are being taken away,” Mr. Brittas, a Rajya Sabha MP, said.
A few hours later, Ms. Banerjee, who was sitting on a dharna at the South Avenue bus stand, right in front of the MPs’ flats, along with Rajya Sabha MPs Derek O’Brien and Dola Sen, Lok Sabha MPs Protima Mandal and Samirul Islam, and former MP Saket Gokhale, were picked by the Delhi Police.
‘Treated like criminals’
TMC chief Mamata Banerjee being detained after she took part in a dharna protest at a bus stand at South Avenue, in New Delhi on October 10, 2026. (Photo: X/@AITCofficial)
Speaking over the phone from Dwarka North police station, Ms. Banerjee said that she and her colleagues were treated like “criminals” despite just six of them sitting peacefully without raising slogans or holing placards.
“The Delhi Police treated us like criminals, like murderers. We were put in a prison van and driven for two hours around Delhi. It is the first time in my political career that I have sat in a prison van,” Ms. Banerjee said.
She likened Saturday’s (October 10) clampdown by the government across Delhi to “doomsday”.
“I was going to return to Kolkata by a 9 p.m. flight, [but] I have decided to stay back. I will march along with other INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) bloc leaders to the Supreme Court,” she said.
Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said that the administration may have succeeded in shutting down one Jantar Mantar, but this would only give rise to many more Jantar Mantars.
“Jantar Mantar is a spirit. And that spirit shone through today. The police are here to detain us, and we are here to retain democracy,” he said.
Published – October 10, 2026 08:36 pm IST
