This page sets out the case made by the Union government, Delhi Police, the Election Commission and the ruling BJP about the protests of 2025-26, mainly the student protests of July 2026 and the anti-CEC protests of October 2026. Each point is stated as its makers put it, and is labelled Government's position. Next to each point we note what the public record shows, with evidence tags, so readers can judge for themselves.
Key takeaways
- Delhi Police say Section 163 BNSS orders in New Delhi district, which bar gatherings of five or more without written permission, are in force "to ensure public safety, public order and smooth traffic movement" during the October 2026 anti-CEC protests.
- Delhi Police reported more than 118 personnel injured at the 20 July 2026 "Sansad Chalo" march, while Amnesty International documented police pellet-gun use that day, which Delhi Police had called "fake news".
- By 8 October 2026 Delhi Police had registered at least three FIRs naming Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for assaulting and obstructing police during the anti-CEC protests; no complainant has been named and no fact-checker has assessed the BJP-circulated clips.
- The Election Commission says the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) removes dead, shifted, duplicate and ineligible voters, and the Supreme Court upheld the SIR on 27 May 2026 as within the Commission's powers.
- BJP leaders and Union ministers have alleged foreign interference in India's 2026 protests, but no ministry, agency or court has published evidence for it, and petitions seeking agency probes into the Cockroach Janta Party were dismissed.
- In West Bengal there are documented cases of Bangladeshi nationals holding Indian voter IDs, but the Election Commission has published no deletion category for foreigners, and no official figure supports BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari's 2025 claim of about 1.25 crore illegal immigrants on the rolls.
- At the July 2026 student protests, protesters chanting "godi media" assaulted reporters including Times Now's Dev Kotak, and the Editors Guild of India said "biased reporting can never be the justification for attacks on media persons".
How to read this page
The rest of this site reports events from all sides. This page collects the arguments of those in authority, because they are often reported only in fragments. Stating a position here is not an endorsement. Where a point rests on a documented record, it is tagged Documented. Where it is an assertion that has not been checked, it is tagged as a claim. Where evidence was looked for and not found, it is tagged No evidence.
1. Protests are allowed when the rules are followed
Government's position Delhi Police say they permit protests at the designated site, Jantar Mantar, when organisers apply in time and keep to agreed conditions. Restrictions follow from breaches, short notice or threats to public order, not from the cause being raised.
What the record shows.
- Documented Police allowed the Cockroach Janta Party's first Jantar Mantar protest on 6 June 2026 as a "one-time exception", and a second on 20 June until 5 pm. Wikipedia summary
- Documented The rules require an application to the New Delhi district DCP at least 10 days ahead, and reported guidelines cap Jantar Mantar gatherings at 1,000. Business Standard
- Documented On 30 July the Delhi government told police to take no "further adverse legal action" against CJP protesters and to treat the matter "as closed", except for people with criminal antecedents. FPJ/PTI
2. Why the October protests were restricted
Government's position Section 163 BNSS orders are in force across New Delhi district "to ensure public safety, public order and smooth traffic movement". Punjab Kesari/IANS The orders bar gatherings of five or more without written permission. Breaking them is an offence under Section 223 BNS, with up to six months in jail or a fine of Rs 2,500. Deccan Chronicle/PTI
- 2 October: police said permission had not been granted and repeatedly announced that no gathering was allowed. DT Next/PTI
- 6 October: police said no application for the march from Parliament to Nirvachan Sadan had been made to the DCP's office, so none was granted. They said MPs were removed from Akashvani Bhawan to maintain law and order. ANI
- 10 October: the CJP's application arrived on 7 October, three days ahead. Joint Commissioner Nupur Prasad cited short notice, the group's failure to follow lawful directions and its own written undertakings at an earlier permitted protest, and public safety and traffic. "It is rejected; it is not approved," she said. India TV
Claim · ECI On 6 October the Commission said no party had sought an appointment by 4 pm. It said a delegation of about 240 MPs asking to hand over a memorandum at Parliament House Annexe was "unusual" under its protocol, which requires meetings on its premises, and offered a senior officer to receive it. TNM
The other side. Opposition parties say the orders were used to block peaceful protest altogether, including at the designated site. Congress MP Rajiv Shukla, while criticising the restrictions, acknowledged they caused public inconvenience. ANI
3. Police conduct and injuries to police
Government's position Police say they used "minimal force", while protesters attacked personnel, damaged vehicles and property and tried to push through barricades into high-security zones. NewsBytes
July 2026, the student protests.
- Documented At the 20 July "Sansad Chalo" march, Delhi Police reported more than 118 personnel injured, from a Special Commissioner down and including women officers, and 15-20 government vehicles damaged. About 60 protesters were also injured. ANI AP/PBS
- Documented On 23 July police confirmed a viral CCTV clip showing stone-pelting and smashed windows at a petrol pump. Thirteen FIRs were filed. ANI
- Documented In court on 22 July, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju said part of the protest had turned violent, with stone-pelting. Wikipedia summary
October 2026, the anti-CEC protests.
- Claim · ANI/police On 4 October about 15 personnel were injured at the barricades near Le Meridien and Shangri-La, some women officers bitten. Senior officers denied excessive force. NewsBytes
- Claim · police On 5 October, at an NSUI protest on Parliament Street, CISF constable Bikram Kumar was attacked with a knife while pulling a protester off a barricade, suffering a minor elbow injury. Four FIRs (assault, rioting, defacement, obstruction) and 18 arrests followed, and police are examining CCTV. Siasat/PTI
- Documented By 8 October police had registered about 25 FIRs, covering alleged vandalism of public property, assault, scuffles with police and obstruction. ANI
What critics say. Claim · Amnesty Amnesty documented pellet-gun use on 20 July, and a 19-year-old lost sight in one eye. Delhi Police called pellet reports "fake news", but a paramilitary finding reportedly recorded at least 7 pellet rounds. Al Jazeera In October, three women journalists alleged sexual harassment by police; police sent the complaints to the Crime Branch for a "fair and impartial enquiry". Kashmir Images
4. Opposition leaders' conduct on 6 and 7 October
Government's position Opposition MPs, led by Rahul Gandhi, marched without permission, climbed barricades, entered Akashvani Bhawan without permission and blocked roads, and some assaulted police officers, including women officers. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said the opposition wants "anarchy" to "relaunch" Rahul Gandhi. Onmanorama Union Minister Kiren Rijiju called the campaign a "daily drama" and said attacks on constitutional institutions would not help Congress. ANI
What the record shows.
- Documented On 6 October Rahul Gandhi and SP MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq stood on top of barricades, and MPs held a sit-in of several hours at Akashvani Bhawan before being detained. An FIR was registered for entering Akashvani Bhawan without permission. ANI
- Documented On 7 October, after a joint lunch, MPs sat on the road near the Shangri-La hotel. Police carried Rahul Gandhi onto a bus, and women police removed Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other women leaders, who were lying on the road holding copies of the Constitution. Police said 91 people were detained. Business Standard/PTI
- Claim · Pradeep Bhandari, BJP He posted a clip and wrote: "In his eagerness to make a reel, Rahul Gandhi attempts to push a female police personnel." ThePrint said the moment came as women police were removing a woman protester; it did not verify the clip. ThePrint
- Claim · Arun Yadav, BJP A clip he circulated appears to show Priyanka Gandhi "extend her hand towards a woman constable and elbow her" as she was moved to a vehicle. PTI reported it is "unclear whether the contact was deliberate" or happened in the pushing and pulling. FPJ/PTI
- Claim · video Another clip purportedly shows an unidentified man kicking an officer from behind. ThePrint also reported a brief tussle between Rahul Gandhi's CRPF security detail and Delhi Police. ThePrint
- Documented By 8 October Delhi Police had registered at least three FIRs naming Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi under BNS provisions on assaulting and obstructing public servants. No complainant has been named publicly. ThePrint
- Not yet fact-checked No Alt News, BOOM, Newschecker, Factly or PIB Fact Check verdict on the 7 October clips was found, and no formal complaint by a named woman officer has been reported.
The opposition's account. Claim · Priyanka Gandhi She said police "scratched" her and threw women MPs to the ground. Business Standard/PTI Claim · Mahua Moitra The TMC MP said the scuffle left her bloodied. Rahul Gandhi said he already faces 45 FIRs and wants the number to reach 100. ThePrint Mallikarjun Kharge said Rahul was protesting peacefully and was detained by force. ANI
Background the BJP cites. Documented In a Parliament scuffle on 19 December 2024, BJP MPs Pratap Sarangi and Mukesh Rajput were injured and an FIR named Rahul Gandhi. Congress filed a counter-complaint saying Kharge was pushed. Tribune
5. Attacks on reporters by protesters
Part of the case made against the protests is that some protesters targeted reporters they branded "godi media". The record supports this for July 2026.
The documented attacks by protesters on reporters took place at the July 2026 student protests. No case of opposition MPs or workers attacking journalists in October was found.
- Documented Times Now's Dev Kotak was surrounded by protesters chanting "godi media", punched and kicked, his shirt torn and his phone, watch and glasses taken. CJP spokesperson Saurav Das condemned the attack and apologised. Statesman
- Documented ABP News's Varun Bhasin had water and trash thrown at him; a crowd tried to pull him from the police vehicle where he sheltered, then chased and stoned it. Times Now's Shafali Nigam was kicked. Republic's Shambhavi Srivastava says she was hit and jabbed with a sharp object, and an NDTV woman reporter was abused, had her shirt pulled and got rape threats online. Newslaundry
- Documented Zee News said its crew were injured in Patna and heckled in Mumbai, and reporters were pushed in Kolkata. Alt News
Biased reporting can never be the justification for attacks on media persons.
Editors Guild of India, 23 July 2026 (Scroll)
The same Editors Guild statement also condemned police "caning, tear-gassing and even using electric prods". Scroll No arrests for attacks on reporters were found in the reports reviewed.
6. Claims of foreign interference
Government's position Several ministers and BJP leaders have said the protests are driven or amplified from abroad.
- Claim · BJP spokespersons In September 2025 Pradeep Bhandari, Shehzad Poonawalla and R.P. Singh said metadata showed the "vote chori" PDFs were made in a Myanmar time zone, and R.P. Singh linked this to George Soros. IANS Amit Malviya said Rahul Gandhi follows a "George Soros playbook". FPJ
- Claim · ministers Kiren Rijiju referred to a "Pakistan & George Soros gang". Frontline Sukanta Majumdar claimed 49% of the CJP's followers are Pakistani. Telegraph Telangana BJP chief N. Ramchander Rao blamed "urban Naxals" and Soros. South First
- Claim · Organiser On 5 October 2026 the RSS-linked weekly amplified a claim that the CJP was "scripted" at the Oslo Freedom Forum with "Soros-linked networks". Its only specifics are a journalism grant from a different foundation to the CJP's spokesperson, his attendance at the forum, and a timeline. Organiser
Evidence status.
- No evidence A time-zone setting in a file does not show where it was made, and no independent analysis backed the Myanmar claim. IANS
- False Alt News found the CJP's analytics show 94.7% Indian followers, and Decode found third-party tools also show mostly Indian audiences. Alt News Decode
- Documented Petitions seeking CBI, NIA or ED probes into the CJP were dismissed by the Supreme Court and the Allahabad High Court. The Hindu HT Asked about foreign funding, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: "I have no information to share." Wikipedia summary
- Documented Meta's adversarial-threat reports for December 2025 and August 2026 name no foreign influence operation targeting India over these protests; the one India-focused takedown was a domestic network. Meta No statements on the protests from the US State Department, UK, EU or UN rights office were found.
In short, the foreign-interference claims rest on statements, not published evidence. That does not prove them untrue, but no ministry, agency or court has produced documents supporting them.
7. The Elon Musk and Rahul Gandhi exchange
Government's position The Communications Ministry called Musk's claims that Starlink is being blocked "baseless and misconceived", saying Starlink, Jio-SES and OneWeb are "at broadly the same regulatory stage", all undergoing security assessments, and that the process is fair and non-discriminatory. Al Jazeera Claim · Ram Madhav, BJP He called Rahul "Surrender Gandhi", said "India is not a banana republic", and noted that Jairam Ramesh had earlier called Starlink a national security risk. This was reported only by a partisan outlet. PGurus
What was actually posted.
- Documented On 7 October Musk wrote that Starlink was "being blocked by certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people. You can guess who they are", calling it "a crime against the people of India!" OfficeChai On 8 October he asked: "Is Ambani the real boss of India?" Forbes
- Documented Rahul Gandhi replied: "Welcome to India, Elon. Wait till you discover the other guy." Musk then wrote: "Thank you, Rahul. This is indeed troubling." Business Standard
- Correction It was Musk who thanked Rahul Gandhi, not the reverse. Gandhi amplified Musk's complaint and later wrote: "I am not anti-business; I am anti-monopoly." American Bazaar
- No evidence Musk offered no evidence of lobbying against Starlink, Reliance had not responded, and no report links his posts to the protests beyond timing.
8. The SIR's purpose: clean voter rolls
Government's position The Election Commission says the Special Intensive Revision removes dead, shifted, duplicate and ineligible entries to protect the integrity of elections, after more than four decades without an intensive revision. CEC Gyanesh Kumar said the roll may contain errors and the SIR is the way to fix them, and that over 3 lakh cases of shared voter ID numbers had been corrected. The Week/PTI Home Minister Amit Shah said the SIR is "absolutely necessary to remove infiltrators from the voters' list". Tribune
What the record shows.
- Documented The Supreme Court upheld the SIR on 27 May 2026 as within the ECI's powers and "essential to preserving the integrity of free and fair elections". The Week
- Documented In West Bengal's draft roll, most deletions were in the categories dead (24.17 lakh), shifted (19.88 lakh) and absent (12.20 lakh). The Week/PTI
- Claim · ECI On the commissioners' 14 objections, the ECI says every decision was unanimous and that differing views are normal. The Week
- Documented The ECI has also made changes: on 29 September it ordered a drive in 20 states and UTs to enrol "left out" voters, compare pre- and post-SIR rolls and drop a disputed Form 6 question. Business Standard
- Documented The Supreme Court has issued notice on petitions alleging the CEC acted without his colleagues' approval, but refused interim orders. LawBeat See the full SIR page.
9. Infiltration concerns in West Bengal
Government's position BJP leaders say large numbers of Bangladeshi nationals obtained Indian voter IDs, Aadhaar and ration cards in West Bengal, and that the SIR exposed them. Suvendu Adhikari, now Chief Minister, claimed in July 2025 that about 1.25 crore illegal immigrants were on the state's rolls. Business Standard
What the record shows. There are real, documented cases, but no official figure supports the size of the claim.
- Documented In July 2025 Kolkata Police arrested Bangladeshi model Shanta Paul with Indian Aadhaar, voter ID and ration cards; police say she had entered India only months earlier. The Week/PTI The ED told a court that Azad Mullick, arrested in Kolkata in April 2025, held an Indian voter ID and had voted in 2021 and 2024. IANS
- Documented After the SIR began on 4 November 2025, the BSF said 150-200 people a day were detained at the Hakimpur border and returned, about 1,200 in six days. Some told PTI they had bought documents through touts; one said he paid "nearly Rs 20,000". Hitavada/PTI A BSF official later put the total at "at least 25,000" since 4 November 2025. ThePrint
- No official figure The ECI has published no deletion category for foreigners or non-citizens; its categories are dead, shifted, absent, duplicate and "ghost". The Reporters' Collective The Supreme Court held that deletion is not loss of citizenship and told the ECI to send doubtful cases to the Union. The News Minute
- False A viral "exodus" video was a Kali idol immersion crowd in Nadia. Rumor Scanner
Details are on the West Bengal voter-ID page.
10. Concessions the government points to
Government's position The government says it listened and acted when protesters raised real grievances.
- Documented Between 22 and 25 July 2026 the government sent four proposals to student protest leaders and gave written assurances to withdraw cases against non-violent protesters and compensate families of students who died by suicide. Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned on 25 July, taking "moral responsibility". Hindustan Times
Claim · CJP, AISA Student groups later said the government had not kept all its promises.
Both accounts
Protesters' account
Prohibitory orders were used to shut down peaceful protest, even at the designated site. Police used excessive force, including pellets in July and alleged harassment of women journalists in October. The SIR removed eligible voters, and the CEC acted without his colleagues. Foreign-hand claims are a way to discredit citizens.
Police and government account
Permission is given when rules are followed. Protesters broke prohibitory orders, injured police, damaged property and attacked reporters, and opposition leaders scuffled with women officers. The SIR is lawful, upheld by the Supreme Court, and needed to clean the rolls, including of illegal immigrants. Concessions were made where grievances were real.
Questions people ask
Why did Delhi Police refuse permission for the protests?
Police cite Section 163 BNSS orders in New Delhi district for public safety, order and traffic. For 6 October they say no application was made. For 10 October they say the CJP applied only three days ahead, short of the 10 days required, and had broken earlier undertakings.
Is there an FIR against Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi?
Yes. By 8 October Delhi Police had registered at least three FIRs naming both for assaulting and obstructing public servants on 7 October, plus an FIR over entering Akashvani Bhawan on 6 October. No complainant has been named, and the videos have not been fact-checked.
Did Priyanka Gandhi elbow a woman police officer?
A clip circulated by the BJP appears to show contact as she was moved to a vehicle. PTI reported it is unclear whether the contact was deliberate or happened in the pushing and pulling. No fact-checker has assessed the clip.
Did Rahul Gandhi thank Elon Musk?
No. Rahul Gandhi replied to Musk's post with "Welcome to India, Elon. Wait till you discover the other guy." Musk then wrote "Thank you, Rahul. This is indeed troubling."
Is there evidence of foreign funding behind the protests?
None has been published. The claims come from BJP leaders and partisan outlets. Probe petitions were dismissed, Meta's threat reports name no foreign operation, and the MEA said it had "no information to share".
Sources
- Tribune: Decoding the FIR against Rahul over Parliament scuffle, Dec 2024
- The Week/PTI: Bangladeshi national arrested in Kolkata, 31 Jul 2025
- IANS: ED probes how arrested man got EPIC card and voted twice, 11 Jun 2025
- Business Standard: Suvendu Adhikari claims 1.25 crore illegal voters, 26 Jul 2025
- Tribune: Opposition opposing SIR to protect infiltrator vote bank, says Shah, 9 Aug 2025
- The Week/PTI: CEC's press conference, 17 Aug 2025
- IANS: BJP alleges Myanmar-made vote theft PDFs, 11 Sept 2025
- FPJ: Malviya on "Soros playbook", 2025
- Hitavada/PTI: Reverse migration at Hakimpur border, 24 Nov 2025
- Rumor Scanner: Bangladeshis leaving after SIR, fake claim, Nov 2025
- The Week/PTI: West Bengal draft rolls, 16 Dec 2025
- Meta: Adversarial threat report, Dec 2025
- The Week: Supreme Court upholds SIR, 27 May 2026
- ThePrint: 150 Bangladeshis checked at Hakimpur post, 28 May 2026
- South First: Telangana BJP chief alleges urban Naxal, foreign links, Jun 2026
- Telegraph: Sukanta Majumdar's 49 per cent claim, 2026
- Alt News: Misleading claim of Pakistani followers, 2026
- Decode: Claims used to discredit CJP don't hold up, 2026
- Frontline: Cockroach Janta Party and Gen Z mobilisation, 2026
- The Hindu: Plea in Supreme Court to probe CJP, 2026
- HT: Allahabad HC bins PIL on CJP, 2026
- The Reporters' Collective: West Bengal CM and SIR data, 21 Jun 2026
- The News Minute: SC says EC cannot decide citizenship, 18 Jul 2026
- AP/PBS: Cockroach movement vows to continue after crackdown, Jul 2026
- Newslaundry: From godi media taunts to assault, 22 Jul 2026
- ANI: Police confirm targeting of personnel on 20 July, 23 Jul 2026
- Statesman: Times Now reporter Dev Kotak attacked, Jul 2026
- Scroll: Editors Guild statement, 23 Jul 2026
- Alt News: Why TV reporters became a target, Jul 2026
- Hindustan Times: Dharmendra Pradhan resigns, 25 Jul 2026
- FPJ/PTI: Delhi government orders no adverse action, 30 Jul 2026
- Al Jazeera: What the Amnesty report reveals, 24 Aug 2026
- Wikipedia: 2026 Delhi Jantar Mantar protests, accessed Oct 2026
- The Week: ECI denies one-man autocracy allegations, 23 Sept 2026
- Business Standard: ECI orders special drive in 20 states, 2 Oct 2026
- DT Next/PTI: 700 detained seeking CEC's ouster, 2 Oct 2026
- Deccan Chronicle/PTI: 3 FIRs over anti-CEC protests, 3 Oct 2026
- Kashmir Images: Press Club condemns police action, 5 Oct 2026
- NewsBytes: Violent protest in Delhi against CEC, 5 Oct 2026
- Siasat/PTI: 4 FIRs over NSUI protest, 18 held, 5 Oct 2026
- LawBeat: SC issues notice, no interim orders, 5 Oct 2026
- Organiser: Viral video claims Oslo, Soros links, 5 Oct 2026
- ANI: Standoff as INDIA bloc march met with barricades, 6 Oct 2026
- Onmanorama: BJP calls march bid to relaunch Rahul Gandhi, 6 Oct 2026
- Punjab Kesari/IANS: Section 163 still in place, Oct 2026
- Business Standard/PTI: Rahul, Priyanka, other MPs detained, 7 Oct 2026
- ThePrint: BJP alleges Rahul tried to push policewoman, 7 Oct 2026
- FPJ/PTI: Priyanka Gandhi allegedly elbows woman cop, 7 Oct 2026
- OfficeChai: Musk says Starlink blocked by oligarchs, 7 Oct 2026
- ThePrint: 3 FIRs against Rahul, Priyanka, 8 Oct 2026
- Forbes: Musk suggests Ambani stymying Starlink, 8 Oct 2026
- Al Jazeera: India defends satellite approval process, 8 Oct 2026
- Business Standard: "Indeed troubling", Musk responds to Rahul Gandhi, 9 Oct 2026
- American Bazaar: Musk, Gandhi and Ambani, 9 Oct 2026
- PGurus: BJP targets Rahul after Musk exchange (partisan), Oct 2026
- ANI: Around 25 FIRs since 2 October, 9 Oct 2026
- India TV: Police deny CJP permission for 10 October, 9 Oct 2026
- Business Standard: Rules for holding demonstrations in Delhi, 9 Oct 2026
- ANI: INDIA bloc MPs march to meet President, 9 Oct 2026
- The News Minute: A one-man Election Commission?, 9 Oct 2026