Cowardly: Supriya Sule condemns crackdown on protesters in Delhi

Speaking at the India Today Conclave Mumbai 2026, Supriya Sule compared the situation in Delhi to the Emergency of the 1970s, describing it as an "unannounced Emergency."Supriya Sule calls detention of protesters a cowardly act(Photo-ITG)Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MP Supriya Sule on Saturday condemned the detention of protesters who gathered in Delhi to participate in the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) agitation at Jantar Mantar, calling it a “cowardly act by any government”.Speaking to India Today Group Consulting Editor Rajdeep Sardesai at the India Today Conclave Mumbai 2026, Sule said the agitation was peaceful and criticised the government’s handling of the protesters. “It was a very peaceful agitation that they were going to participate in Delhi. I personally feel it was cowardly of any government. I condemn this,” Sule said.Her remarks came after Delhi Police detained nearly 500 people who gathered in the national capital on Saturday to participate in an agitation called by the CJP leadership against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. CJP leaders Abhijit Dipke, Sourav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were also detained from an Air India flight shortly after landing in Delhi to attend the protest. Sule also drew parallels between the restrictions imposed in Delhi and the Emergency declared in India in 1975, describing the situation in the capital as an “unannounced Emergency”.Authorities imposed restrictions to prevent the gathering from escalating, with security personnel deployed and metro station gates closed. Around 250 trains were cancelled, while an internet blackout was imposed in parts of central Delhi at night. Recalling accounts of the Emergency, one of the darkest chapters in India's democratic history, Sule questioned how the situation in Delhi differed from the restrictions imposed during that period.“I have read about all these horrific situations in the ’70s about the Emergency. How different can it be from yesterday in Delhi? At 10 o’clock, there was no internet. So, this is the Emergency. Unsaid, unannounced Emergency,” she said.The four-time MP from Maharashtra’s Baramati also asserted that young protesters, particularly those from Gen Z, would not leave the streets easily when they believed their constitutional rights were being taken away.Sule expressed concern over the broader state of affairs in the country, saying anarchy had prevailed and people had no institution to turn to.- Ends