Published Oct 10, 2026 | 5:29 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 10, 2026 | 5:29 PM
Tharoor said barricades will not restore faith in the Election Commission. (@shashitharoor/x)
Synopsis: Barricades will do nothing to restore faith in the Election Commission; the sooner it answers the public’s questions, the sooner it will restore calm. The strength of a democracy is measured by how it treats those who question its workings, and by that measure, what we saw today was utterly shameful and unconscionable, Tharoor said in a tweet.
Barricades will not restore faith in the Election Commission, Lok Sabha MP and senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said, adding that the poll panel must answer the public’s questions to restore calm.
In a post on X, the Thiruvananthapuram MP termed the situation in Delhi “utterly shameful and unconscionable”.
“Barricades will do nothing to restore faith in the Election Commission; the sooner it answers the public’s questions, the sooner it will restore calm. The strength of a democracy is measured by how it treats those who question its working, and by that measure, what we have seen today is utterly shameful and unconscionable,” he tweeted.
He added that a confident government would welcome questions about election fairness, “whereas one that turns its capital into a fortress to avoid them only deepens the very suspicions it seeks to suppress”.
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“The government should provide answers, not lathis; expression, not repression,” he urged the BJP-led government at the Centre.
Even roads leading to Jantar Mantar have been declared off-limits for citizens. (@shashitharoor/X)
“Those detained will have to be released. And if the protesters simply return on Monday, will the authorities lock down the national capital all over again? Our Gen Z deserves better than an undeclared Emer-GenZ,” Tharoor played on the term.
Referring to a fortified Delhi, the lawmaker said freedom of movement has been shackled, and even roads leading to Jantar Mantar — the designated protest zone meant for citizens to voice dissent in central Delhi — have been declared off-limits.
“One is entitled to ask where this extraordinary manpower and urgency disappear when women in our capital need protection,” he enquired, apparently referring to the recent rape cases that have shocked the country.
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Tharoor also painted a vivid picture of the situation in Delhi, where elaborate arrangements have been made to counter the Opposition and the Cockroach Janta Party’s protest demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.
“I returned to the national capital after 2 am and have rarely seen anything like what Delhi is witnessing now, with checkpoints every few hundred metres, concrete barriers and spike strips laid across our roads, a war-like deployment of 22,000 police and paramilitary across the city, 250 trains cancelled, and 45 metro stations closed, and reports of young people being detained from their own homes and the streets in and around Delhi — all to prevent citizens from peacefully raising questions about the integrity of our elections. Most regressive (as well as repressive) is the suspension of the internet in the heart of the national capital,” he added.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
