‘Detained For Sitting In A Park’: BJP Leader’s Daughter Caught In Delhi’s Anti SIR Protest Crackdown
New Delhi: Yashaswinee Raje Singh, daughter of former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Vikram Singh, said she was detained by Delhi Police near Gurudwara Bangla Sahib on Saturday, as authorities moved to prevent a major protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the revision of electoral rolls.
In a post on social media platform X, Yashaswinee claimed she had been detained simply for sitting in a park. She also stated that she was being held at Keshav Puram police station. Her account emerged amid a sweeping security operation across the national capital ahead of a demonstration organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) at Jantar Mantar.
The protest called for Kumar’s resignation over the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, a process that has drawn criticism from opposition parties over concerns about the deletion of eligible voters.
Thousands Detained as Security Tightens
Delhi witnessed extensive police deployment on October 10, with more than 40,000 Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Forces personnel reportedly mobilised across the capital. Barricades and spike strips were installed at key locations to restrict movement and prevent protesters from reaching the planned gathering.
More than 1,000 people were initially reported detained, with subsequent reports putting the number at around 3,000. An report update later said most detainees had been released, while CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and three others remained in detention at that point.
Several prominent opposition figures were also detained, including former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and former Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar.
Banerjee and several Trinamool Congress MPs were stopped in central Delhi while attempting to proceed towards the protest site. She later criticised the police action, saying the INDIA bloc would continue fighting to strengthen people’s voices.
Who Is Yashaswinee Raje Singh?
Yashaswinee is the daughter of Vikram Singh, who previously represented Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur Sadar constituency as a BJP legislator. She has also been associated with student protests over examination paper leaks earlier this year, when demonstrators demanded accountability from the government.
Her reported detention adds another dimension to the politically charged demonstration, as the daughter of a former BJP legislator publicly aligned herself with a campaign challenging the Election Commission.
The SIR controversy remains at the centre of the confrontation, with opposition parties alleging that the voter list exercise threatens electoral fairness. The protest crackdown has intensified the debate over democratic dissent, freedom of assembly and the handling of political demonstrations in the capital.
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