New Delhi, October 2026: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Modi government over alleged police brutality against protesters heading towards Jantar Mantar.
Senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh alleged that the Modi government had imposed an undeclared emergency in Delhi and crossed all limits of oppression and brutality. He claimed that Delhi Police personnel dragged and assaulted young people, women, journalists and lawyers.
Singh alleged that more than 7,000 people, including Arvind Kejriwal, four former chief ministers and senior leaders of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), were forcibly detained. He said that if Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not ordered the suspension of train and metro services, lakhs of people would have reached Jantar Mantar to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
He asserted that young people across the country would now unite against what he described as dictatorship and work to remove the Modi–Gyanesh Kumar combination from power.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters alongside Delhi AAP president Saurabh Bharadwaj, senior leader Gopal Rai and national media in-charge Anurag Dhanda, Singh alleged that Delhi had been turned into a centre of oppression since Saturday.
He claimed that videos and photographs showed senior journalists, Supreme Court lawyers and women being dragged and assaulted. Singh further alleged that BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) workers assaulted women protesters in the presence of police personnel and tore their clothes.
Questioning the government's commitment to women's safety, he referred to Prime Minister Modi's slogan, “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao”, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's advocacy of anti-Romeo squads. Singh alleged that, contrary to these stated commitments, the authorities had allowed hooligans to operate in Delhi.
He claimed that the capital had been turned into a virtual cantonment to protect Gyanesh Kumar, whom he accused of electoral wrongdoing.
Allegations of large-scale voter deletions
Singh alleged that Gyanesh Kumar had helped the BJP win elections by manipulating electoral rolls in Delhi, Bihar, West Bengal, Haryana and Maharashtra. He claimed that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise had resulted in the deletion of 13.37 crore voter names across the country.
According to Singh, when the CJP called for a peaceful protest against the alleged deletions, the government responded with police force and baton charges.
He alleged that Arvind Kejriwal, a three-time chief minister of Delhi, was dragged through the streets and forced into a bus. Singh also claimed that AAP leaders and legislators, including Saurabh Bharadwaj and Anurag Dhanda, were treated like mafia members or terrorists.
Singh further alleged that police detained former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, while students were chased and beaten.
He claimed that CJP leaders Abhijit Deepke, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurabh Das were arrested after police entered an aircraft, despite allegedly having no authority to do so. Singh also alleged that YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was arrested from his home after police behaved inappropriately towards his parents.
According to Singh, more than 6,000 people were arrested in Delhi. He maintained that at least six lakh people could have assembled peacefully had the authorities allowed the protest to proceed without restrictions.
He also accused the government of disrupting public life by suspending train and metro services, preventing patients, traders and workers from travelling to the capital.
Police action at a gurdwara condemned
Singh also accused the police of disrespecting Sikh religious traditions by entering a gurdwara wearing shoes and carrying batons. He alleged that people taking shelter there were beaten and dragged away, and that the clothes of a young Sikh man were removed.
Referring to India's experience during the Emergency, Singh said those in power at the time had also believed their authority would last indefinitely, but the people eventually removed them from office.
He alleged that the Modi government had created a similar atmosphere in the country and asserted that young people would mobilise against it.
Saurabh Bharadwaj raises concerns over women's safety
Delhi AAP president Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that women had increasingly been targeted during the last two protests by police personnel and right-wing groups.
He claimed that police officers of Assistant Commissioner of Police rank had been seen behaving inappropriately towards women, while some constables and head constables had allegedly been caught touching women inside their trousers.
Bharadwaj further alleged that right-wing groups that arrived on Saturday specifically targeted women and tore their clothes. He referred to the Prime Minister's reported criticism of the language used by women protesters and argued that the authorities appeared particularly concerned about women's participation.
He said the alleged targeting of women suggested that certain groups were uncomfortable with the freedoms guaranteed to women under the Constitution.
Bharadwaj appealed to women across the country to unite against the BJP and right-wing forces, warning that their rights could otherwise be undermined.
Gopal Rai calls protest a turning point
Senior AAP leader Gopal Rai described Saturday's events as a dark chapter in India's democratic history.
He said that the country had witnessed much larger protests since Independence, but alleged that the government was deeply unsettled by the student and youth movement demanding the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner.
Rai said the government's nervousness was reflected in a BJP press conference on Saturday evening, where party spokespersons celebrated what they described as the protest's failure.
He argued that the movement had demonstrated its strength because the government had deployed extensive police forces, suspended train and metro services, erected barricades across the capital and restricted internet access, yet thousands of people had still taken to the streets.
Rai questioned the official arrest figures, claiming that although 30 people were detained alongside him on Ferozeshah Road, the police records listed only 10 names.
He said thousands of people had defied the government's restrictions to demand Kumar's resignation and described the demonstration as only the beginning of a larger movement.
Rai alleged that the government's actions amounted to support for electoral wrongdoing. He insisted that the movement would continue through peaceful and democratic means until its objectives were achieved.
Warning the government against repeating Saturday's actions, Rai said the protest slogan demanding that alleged vote thieves leave office could intensify if the authorities continued their crackdown.
He appealed to students, young people and citizens to remain peaceful, asserting that non-violent democratic protest was the path to victory.
Anurag Dhanda condemns alleged treatment of journalists and Sikh protesters
AAP national media in-charge Anurag Dhanda said he had never witnessed senior lawyers being dragged in such a manner.
He also condemned the alleged detention of people who had taken shelter inside a gurdwara, describing the action as a grave insult to Sikh religious traditions.
Dhanda said the Nishan Sahib, the Sikh religious flag displayed at gurdwaras, symbolised the principle that anyone in need could seek shelter there. He alleged that police entering such a place with batons and shoes demonstrated a disregard for Sikh faith and its traditions.
Dhanda warned that the BJP would face political consequences for the alleged incident.
He further claimed that several media professionals and independent journalists were detained and taken away in buses despite displaying their press identification cards. According to him, journalists were told to cover the protest only from designated locations along the roadside.
Dhanda described the events as an unprecedented episode in India's post-Independence history, barring the Emergency period. He alleged that the government had created such extraordinary circumstances because it was facing an unprecedented challenge.
He concluded that people were no longer willing to accept what he described as repression and warned that the political fallout could eventually affect Prime Minister Modi himself.
The allegations made by AAP leaders at the press conference were not independently verified in the statement provided.
