NEW DELHI: Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday vowed to continue his fight against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), urging young people to sustain protests against misconduct by the country’s election commission despite a heavy security crackdown in the capital.
“Youth of India, I am proud of you. Keep protesting. We are standing with you,” Gandhi, a senior leader of the opposition Congress party, said in a statement after police detained hundreds of demonstrators in New Delhi.
The protests are part of a wider opposition campaign demanding the resignation of Election Commission of India (ECI) chief Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of irregularities in a nationwide revision of voter rolls.
In his statement, Gandhi accused Modi and other senior figures of undermining India’s Constitution. He said opposition forces would continue to challenge the government and defend voters’ rights.
“Arrest all the leaders. Arrest all the young people. Arrest us all,” Gandhi said. “We are surrounding you, and we are not going to back down.”
He also named Home Minister Amit Shah, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, election chief Kumar and national security adviser Ajit Doval among those he accused of being responsible for attacks on the Constitution.
Gandhi said he had been fighting Modi and the RSS for more than a decade and vowed to ensure that damage inflicted on India over the past 10 to 15 years would not be repeated.
“We are going to ensure that this regime and the people who have attacked our Constitution are defeated,” he said.
I’ve been fighting Narendra Modi and the RSS for over a decade now. I understand them like you would understand your opponent – inside out, like the back of my hand. The core characteristic of these people is cowardice. Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Mohan Bhagwat, Gyanesh Kumar and Ajit Doval, the villains of this story, are slowly finding the space closing around them. We are closing that space. Mr. Modi, do whatever you want. Call out all the police: 10,000, 20,000, 50,000, whatever you want. Arrest all the leaders. Arrest all the young people. Arrest us all. We are surrounding you, and we are not going to back down. Mark my words: we already have the information we need. We are going to defend our Constitution. We are going to protect the voice of the Indian people. And we are going to ensure that what was done to India over the last 10-15 years will never, ever be done again. Youth of India, I am proud of you. Keep protesting. We are standing with you. We are going to ensure that this regime and the people who have attacked our Constitution are defeated. मैं नरेंद्र मोदी, RSS और इनसे जुड़े लोगों के ख़िलाफ़ एक दशक से भी ज़्यादा समय से लड़ रहा हूँ। मैं अपने विरोधियों को उतनी अच्छी तरह समझता हूँ, जितना कोई भी अपने प्रतिद्वंद्वी को समझता है। मैं इन्हें अंदर तक जानता हूँ, इनकी हर चाल से वाक़िफ़ हूँ। इन लोगों की सबसे बड़ी पहचान है – कायरता। नरेंद्र मोदी, अमित शाह, मोहन भागवत, ज्ञानेश कुमार, अजीत डोभाल – इस कहानी के खलनायक – अब धीरे-धीरे घिरते जा रहे हैं। इनके चारों तरफ़ से दायरा सिमट रहा है। जो करना है, कर लीजिए। जितनी पुलिस बुलानी है, बुला लीजिए – 10 हज़ार, 20 हज़ार, 50 हज़ार, जितनी चाहें बुला लीजिए। सारे नेताओं को गिरफ़्तार कर लीजिए। सारे युवाओं को गिरफ़्तार कर लीजिए। हम सबको गिरफ़्तार कर लीजिए। घबराइये मत – हम आपको चारों तरफ़ से घेर रहे हैं, और हम पीछे हटने वाले नहीं हैं। मेरी बात याद रखिए – हमें जो जानकारी चाहिए, वह हमारे पास पहले से है। हम अपने संविधान की रक्षा करेंगे। हम हिंदुस्तान की जनता की आवाज़ की हिफ़ाज़त करेंगे। और हम यह सुनिश्चित करेंगे कि पिछले 10-15 सालों में हिंदुस्तान के साथ जो हुआ है, वह दोबारा कभी, किसी भी सूरत में न हो। हिंदुस्तान के युवाओं, मुझे आप पर गर्व है। अपना विरोध जारी रखिए। हम आपके साथ खड़े हैं। हम यह सुनिश्चित करेंगे कि इस सरकार और हमारे संविधान पर हमला करने वालों को शिकस्त मिले।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 10, 2026
Crackdown Ahead of Protest
Police detained the founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), Abhijeet Dipke, and two other movement leaders before they could disembark from a flight in New Delhi, the group said in a statement.
The group said the three had been taken to an undisclosed location and denied access to lawyers and contact with others.
.@abhijeet_dipke, @SauravDassss and @AshutoshRanka were forcefully detained by @DelhiPolice straight from their plane, and since then, there has been NO INFORMATION about their whereabouts! https://t.co/Kpyc6cOzux
— Cockroaches of India (@CJP_for_India) October 10, 2026
The detentions came as hundreds of demonstrators gathered in the capital despite extensive security measures intended to prevent protesters from reaching the main demonstration site at Jantar Mantar.
The Hindu newspaper reported that as many as 3,000 people had been detained.
Journalists from several media outlets, including Scroll and Newslaundry, were also briefly detained, according to the reports.
Delhi has been under tight security restrictions since Friday, with tens of thousands of police and paramilitary personnel deployed across the city. Authorities have closed dozens of metro stations, cancelled several trains travelling to the capital and temporarily shut down mobile internet services around the protest site.
Voter Rolls Controversy
The demonstration follows weeks of opposition mobilisation over a nationwide revision of electoral rolls that began in 2025.
Opposition parties and other critics allege that the exercise could remove millions of eligible voters from the rolls and benefit Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). They have called for Kumar’s resignation.
The controversy intensified last month after the Indian Express reported that key decisions linked to the revision were taken without the approval of two of the three election commissioners.
More than 133 million names have been excluded from draft electoral rolls, according to Indian media reports citing Election Commission data.
Critics argue that the exercise has disproportionately affected marginalised and minority communities.
The dispute has added to longstanding opposition concerns about the removal of legitimate voters in India, the world’s most populous country and largest democracy, with about 1.4 billion people.
Opposition Challenge to Modi
The protests are widely seen as a revival of the CJP-led mobilisation in July, which contributed to the resignation of the education minister over an examination scandal.
This time, demonstrators are focusing on the election commission and demanding Kumar’s resignation. The controversy presents another challenge for Modi during his third term as prime minister.
Amnesty International condemned what it described as “lockdown-like restrictions” imposed on the capital.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also criticised the authorities’ response, saying the government should answer questions about the electoral process rather than restrict demonstrations.
“A government confident in the fairness of its elections would welcome questions about them, whereas one that turns its capital into a fortress to avoid them only deepens the very suspicions it seeks to suppress,” Tharoor said.
