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Snapshot of the day
October 8, 2026
Anirudh S.K., Kalrav Joshi
It’s T-minus one day until the Cockroach Janta Party’s protest against chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is scheduled to begin in Delhi and boy do the authorities seem keen that it does not take place. Loudspeakers in the heart of the capital are blaring warnings recorded by the police against carrying out demonstrations in the area; elsewhere in the city, megaphone-wielding policemen have been visiting marketplaces, PG accommodations, residents’ welfare bodies and even places of worship dissuading citizens from heeding the protesters’ clarion call. And elsewhere in the country, both the CJP and other outfits have cried foul at the police detaining their comrades. ‘Why not just declare an EMERGENCY?’ CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke pointed out. These eerie scenes are telling of how consternated the Modi government is because of the nationwide uproar over the demands for CEC Kumar’s resignation, as it appears to be at a state of war with its own citizens.
The CJP has alleged that the police have picked up one of their volunteers in Rajasthan and harassed another member in Delhi, and the All India Students’ Federation has said that the authorities, after first attempting to stop its delegation travelling to Delhi by train in Bhusawal, Maharashtra, ultimately detained them in Itarsi, Madhya Pradesh. They may or may not make it to the streets of the capital on Saturday, but thousands of Central Armed Police Force personnel, requisitioned from various places including Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Jammu & Kashmir, are slated to be in attendance.
Thursday also saw the third consecutive day of protests against CEC Kumar by the opposition, who went by bus to Rajghat to conduct a silent demonstration. Unlike on days 1 and 2 the authorities actually let the opposition MPs conduct their programme and did not strain to block and detain them this time. Tomorrow, Sravasti Dasgupta reports,
