Anti-SIR protests rock Delhi for the fifth day, hundreds detained

Protesters climbed over barricades, slogans pierced through the din of police announcements, and detention buses filled up as hundreds of people took to the streets of central Delhi on Wednesday (October 14, 2026), the fifth consecutive day of demonstrations against the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar .

The day began with protests against the judicial custody of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, who were sent to jail for entering the now-denotified Jantar Mantar protest site on Tuesday.

On Firoz Shah Road, members of the Students’ Federation of India and the Democratic Youth Federation of India began a march before a large contingent of police personnel and security forces moved in to control the crowd.

Vote chor, gaddi chor [vote thief, vacate your seat],” the protesters shouted. The placards carried messages, including “We are Indians, not terrorists” and “Protest, not silence, is the lifeblood of democracy”. The protesters targeted Mr. Kumar and opposed the removal of Jantar Mantar’s designated protest-site status.