While Rahul Gandhi had condemned alleged police assaults on student demonstrators earlier in the day, his post did not mention the detained CJP and AISA leaders. The absence of a specific response from Rahul Gandhi stood out as other opposition leaders denounced the crackdown.
BY PC Bureau
New Delhi, October 16, 2026: Three prominent opposition leaders—Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and M.K. Stalin—condemned the detention of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke and All India Students’ Association (AISA) president Neha Bora, as Delhi Police deployed a massive security force to prevent the “Lehra Do Tiranga” march. But nearly seven hours after the detentions, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, issued no public statement condemning the action even by midnight.
The contrast was striking: while leaders of the Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam publicly challenged the police action, Rahul Gandhi had yet to make a comparable, targeted intervention over the detentions that disrupted the planned Tricolour demonstration in the national capital.
Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took to X to condemn Dipke’s detention, saying he had been held for carrying the Indian national flag. Describing the action as part of an “undeclared Emergency”, she also named previously detained CJP leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, calling them symbols of the courage of India’s youth. “Your Didi stands firmly with you,” she declared.
WHAT IS DELHI POLICE UP TO?
Abhijeet Dipke has been detained for holding the Indian National Flag. Let that sink in. In Independent India, our youth are being detained for peacefully asserting their democratic rights.
This is nothing short of an undeclared Emergency. A government that fears dissent is now trying to intimidate an entire generation into silence. This is the conduct of a fascist regime that cannot tolerate a voice it cannot control.
Abhijeet, Ashutosh, Saurav — you represent the courage, conscience and aspirations of India’s youth. You cannot silence an entire generation by suppressing its voice.
Your Didi stands firmly with you. No intimidation, no detention and no abuse of power can crush the spirit of democracy.
WAKE UP, INDIA! The fight for democracy, freedom and the right to dissent will continue.
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) October 16, 2026
Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin also demanded answers, posting: “Where is @abhijeet_dipke? Where is @neha_aisa?” He described detaining the two without disclosing their whereabouts as “blatantly illegal and deeply inhumane” and called for their immediate release. Stalin also condemned what he characterised as the suppression of peaceful protests and reiterated the demand for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.
Where is @abhijeet_dipke? Where is @neha_aisa?
Detaining them without disclosing their whereabouts is blatantly illegal and deeply inhumane.
The Union Government must release them immediately and stop suppressing peaceful protests. Every attempt to crush the movement will only make it stronger.
#GyaneshKumarMustGo. The Union BJP Government has no other option.
@cockroachisback @SFI_CEC @AISA_Official_ @Aishe_Ghosh @SauravDassss @AshutoshRanka @Dhruv_Rathee #CJP #Delhi
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) October 16, 2026
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal denounced the police action as “sheer dictatorship” and questioned whether waving the Tricolour had become a crime in India. In a pointed message, he said that those who objected to the national flag being waved in the country should go to Pakistan.
Rahul Gandhi’s Earlier Post Did Not Mention the Detentions
Rahul Gandhi’s public intervention on Friday concerned an earlier alleged assault on student protesters. In a post published in the morning, he accused Delhi Police of refusing to register an FIR over the alleged assault on students, including Athira from Kerala and Ritu from Rajasthan.
Gandhi said the police could “break bones” but could not “break a satyagraha”. He also criticised what he described as police brutality under Union Home Minister Amit Shah and said he stood with India’s youth.
However, that post made no reference to Dipke, Bora or their detention ahead of the “Lehra Do Tiranga” demonstration. Nor had Gandhi, by late Friday evening, issued a separate statement specifically addressing their detention.
The distinction was significant because the detentions had become a focal point of the day’s confrontation between protesters and Delhi Police, prompting public criticism from opposition leaders across three states.
READ: Thousands Defy Security Clampdown, Wave Tricolor at CJP March
Police Action Foils Planned Gathering
Dipke was taken into preventive custody from a residence in Jhandewalan as he prepared to leave for Connaught Place, where the CJP had called for a Tricolour gathering. Bora was detained near Mandi House as she and other AISA members began moving with flags.
Delhi Police said the gathering lacked permission and that prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita were in force. Central Park in Connaught Place was closed, while extensive police and paramilitary deployments, barricades and traffic restrictions were put in place.
Despite the detentions and the security clampdown, protesters staged brief demonstrations at Connaught Place and Mandi House, waving the national flag and raising slogans. Police said a short march took place around Connaught Place’s inner circle and that traffic continued normally.
The demonstration was called to demand Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, a rollback of the exercise and withdrawal of the 2023 law governing the appointment of election commissioners. The organisers also sought to protest the earlier arrest and judicial custody of CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka.
Congress’s Cautious Approach Under Scrutiny
Led by Rahul Gandhi, Congress has presented the broader campaign against alleged electoral irregularities as a democratic movement and has engaged with Bora in previous INDIA bloc events. Its public posture towards the CJP, however, has appeared more cautious.
The absence of any statement from Rahul Gandhi or other senior Congress leaders on Friday’s detentions stood out against the direct condemnation issued by Banerjee, Kejriwal and Stalin. Whether this reflected a deliberate political calculation or simply a delay in responding was not established.
The episode has therefore raised a question about the opposition’s collective response to police restrictions on protest: while several prominent leaders publicly challenged the detention of the organisers, Rahul Gandhi had not, by late evening, made a comparable statement naming Dipke and Bora.
