Morning Digest: Nearly 500 detained in Delhi on Day 3 of protests seeking CEC’s exit; SC Judge Bhuyan criticises process disenfranchising millions, and more
Protests in India against the Chief Election Commissioner have led to hundreds of detentions, while a Supreme Court judge criticized the electoral roll revision process as potentially disenfranchising. Additionally, the Indian military is reviewing the Agnipath recruitment scheme after four years of implementation.
Why it matters
These events reflect significant ongoing tensions regarding democratic processes and military personnel policy in India.
Protests seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and the suspension of the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls entered their third day, with demonstrations continuing in New Delhi and Mumbai. On Sunday (October 4, 2026), confrontations took place in New Delhi between protesters, who were trying to reach Jantar Mantar, and the Delhi Police, who had heavily barricaded the area. The police stopped the march on Ashoka Road and detained nearly 500 people.
Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan said any process disenfranchising millions, making them second class citizens without the right to vote, was intrinsically arbitrary, and violative of universal adult suffrage and right to equality. Speaking at NALSAR, Hyderabad, Justice Bhuyan said no amount of whataboutery could justify the exclusion of voters en masse from the electoral rolls as such an action was fatal to the Constitution.
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