India's capital braces for more protests after mass detentions

Atul Dev and Asmi Bhatia, Bloomberg News on Oct 11, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

India is bracing for a third straight day of tensions in its capital, with opposition parties on Monday planning a march to the Supreme Court and a youth-led movement pressing ahead with protests over a contentious revision of voter rolls.

Following a weekend of mass detentions and a heavy security presence in Delhi, opposition parties plan to submit a memorandum to India’s chief justice demanding an end to alleged electoral manipulation, a halt to the voter-roll revisions and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Restrictions across dozens of major roads and intersections will remain in place in the capital on Monday, according to the traffic police. Some metro stations serving six key areas of central Delhi were closed on Monday.

“Youth, all opposition parties, civil society groups, all those who believe in democracy and stand by the Constitution of India, will walk with us,” Rahul Gandhi, opposition leader in India’s lower house of parliament, wrote on X. “All of India will march to the Supreme Court.”

The Cockroach Janta Party has also vowed to continue protesting until Kumar steps down. Ashutosh Ranka, the group’s leader, said on X that it would seek a date from Delhi police Monday to hold a peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar, the capital’s designated protest site.

“They are detaining student leaders and protesters and beating them — if they think this will break our spirit, they are mistaken,” Ranka said at a press briefing on Sunday afternoon. “The fight will continue until every single one of our demands is met.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hasn’t publicly commented on the latest protests. His Bharatiya Janata Party has defended the voter-roll revision and accused opposition parties of attempting to undermine democratic institutions.

“We are not opposed to protests, but you have weaponized street protests because of your electoral defeats,” BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said Saturday.

The controversy was triggered by a late-September investigation by the Indian Express alleging that Kumar ignored concerns raised by two election officials over a contentious revision of voter rolls that resulted in more than 130 million names excluded from draft rolls.

The body has denied the claims, saying its decisions were unanimous. It later also eased some voter-verification procedures, but the changes have done little to quell political pressure on the commission.

The demand for Kumar’s resignation comes ahead of key state elections, including next year’s vote in India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, raising the political stakes for Modi’s ruling party and its opponents.

Monday’s planned march adds to pressure on the authorities, a day after the Supreme Court ordered authorities to ease restrictions imposed during the protests. In a special hearing on Sunday, the top court ruled that peaceful, unarmed people cannot be detained where prohibitory orders aren’t in force. It also directed the government to ensure uninterrupted internet access, allow movement subject to traffic rules, and keep metro and railway services operating normally.

The weekend crackdown — including road closures, disruptions to internet and train services, and the detention of thousands of protesters — has put India’s handling of public dissent under greater scrutiny. The United Nations’ Human Rights Office has urged authorities to respect the right to peaceful assembly.

India’s Foreign Ministry rejected the criticism as “unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of India,” saying authorities had acted in accordance with the law. Delhi Police said last week it had denied CJP permission to demonstrate.

The protests are the latest challenge for Modi’s government after thousands of angry students took to the streets in July over exam irregularities, forcing the education minister to resign. The police faced criticism at the time for heavy-handed methods in breaking up the student demonstrations.

The new wave of protests also comes at a difficult moment for the economy, with the government seeking to bolster investor confidence and boost growth. Indian equities have slumped, while the rupee is one of the worst-performing currencies in Asia this year.

On Saturday, the Reserve Bank of India broadened its defenses to steady the rupee, taking some of its strongest measures since the 2013 taper tantrum.

____

(With assistance from Akriti Sharma and Shruti Mahajan.)