October 10, 2026

Press Release

CPI Strongly Condemns BJP’s Fascist Methods to Suppress Anti-CEC Protests

The National Secretariat of the Communist Party of India issued the following statement today (October 10, 2026):

The Communist Party of India strongly condemns the fascist methods employed by the Modi Government to suppress the protest against CEC Gyanesh Kumar, called by Left student organisations and CJP, with the support of Left parties. Deploying more than 45,000 security personnel in Central Delhi, cancelling trains arriving in the capital, shutting down the internet and closing 57 metro stations have turned Delhi into a military cantonment. RSS affiliated goons assaulted protesters in complicity with the Delhi Police. This grossly undemocratic crackdown is a cause of national and international embarrassment. The Modi Government has dropped all pretence of being a democratic regime, exposing its authoritarian fangs to suppress growing public anger over electoral malpractice, rigging of electoral rolls and the complicity of CEC Gyanesh Kumar.

It is clear that the BJP has lost complete confidence in its popularity among the people and is winning elections solely on the basis of unfair means. The violence, intimidation and coercion unleashed against citizens seeking to exercise their democratic right to peaceful protest deserve the strongest condemnation. Despite days of preventive detentions by the Modi Government and BJP-ruled state governments, thousands of students and youth gathered in Delhi, undeterred by repression. Thousands were picked up and manhandled from roads leading to Jantar Mantar. Several journalists were also detained by the Delhi Police and prevented from covering the protest, in a blatant attack on press freedom and the public’s right to know. CPI National Secretariat members Rama Krushna Panda and K. Prekash Babu, AIYF General Secretary Sukhjinder Mahesari, NFIW General Secretary Nisha Sidhu, AISF General Secretary Dinesh Seerangaraj and AISF President Viraaj Devang were detained along with hundreds of CPI, AISF and AIYF activists. These shameful scenes expose the government’s fear of democratic dissent and its determination to silence those demanding accountability.

Despite the undemocratic crackdown, the Modi Government has failed to break the morale of those fighting to defend democracy. The CPI congratulates all those who are raising their voices for democracy, particularly the students and youth who stood firm in the face of severe repression. These protests will grow stronger and spread to every part of the country. The demand is clear: Gyanesh Kumar must resign and the electoral system must be comprehensively reformed. This struggle will not stop. Our unity will cause the downfall of this regime, which has already lost the moral right to continue.

Sd/-

Roykutty

Office Secretary