BJP ex-MLA’s daughter detained amid Delhi crackdown on anti-CEC protest
Yashaswinee Raje Singh, whose father is former BJP MLA Vikram Singh from Fatehpur Sadar in Uttar Pradesh, was detained by Delhi Police on Saturday during a major crackdown on protests calling for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign.
Yashaswinee wrote on X that police detained her near Bangla Sahib ‘for sitting in a park’ and took her to Keshav Puram police station. She later posted a video saying the incident happened around 11 to 11:30 am and claimed police were detaining people at random, even those just sitting on benches. Her detention was part of increased security across Delhi before a planned protest at Jantar Mantar organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).
The CJP protest called for CEC Gyanesh Kumar to step down over claims of problems in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Delhi saw tight security, with over 40,000 police and armed forces on duty, plus barricades and spike strips to stop crowds from gathering at the protest site. Since authorities did not allow the demonstration, police took action before it could begin.
This is not the first time Yashaswinee has been involved with CJP activities. Earlier this year, she became known during the June and July student protests at Jantar Mantar, which called for Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign over alleged exam paper leaks.
As a content creator, she openly supported the CJP campaign and joined related protests. Reports say she keeps her political views separate from her father’s and rarely talks politics with him.
The police crackdown on Saturday went far beyond just a few people. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and co-conveners Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained on a plane soon after it landed in Delhi from Mumbai. Several opposition leaders, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and senior members of CPI(M) and other parties, were also taken into custody at different places as police blocked access to Jantar Mantar.
Delhi Police sources and reports estimate that between several hundred and over 2,000 people were detained across the city.
Since late September, student groups, opposition parties, and civil society organisations have repeatedly protested these issues.
Delhi Police said the gathering lacked permission, but protesters called the detentions an attempt to silence criticism of the SIR process. Because of Yashaswinee’s BJP family background, her detention added a political angle to the day’s events in Delhi.
