Veteran Congress leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Husain Dalwai has written to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, demanding the immediate release of senior social activist Firoze Mithiborawala and several other activists and student union members detained across the state ahead of a planned rally in New Delhi on Saturday, 11 October 2026. Dalwai, in his letter dated Friday, 10 October 2026, condemned the police action as 'authoritarian' and a direct assault on constitutionally guaranteed freedoms.

What Triggered the Detentions

According to Dalwai's letter, Mithiborawala was picked up directly from his Mumbai residence and held in police custody to prevent him from travelling to the national capital. Several other activists and students travelling by train from Maharashtra were reportedly intercepted and detained at multiple railway stations en route.

The rally they were heading to — organised by various student organisations and the Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) — was scheduled to demand transparency in the electoral process. The protest was peaceful in nature, according to Dalwai's account.

Dalwai's Appeal to Fadnavis

Dalwai stated that the Indian Constitution guarantees freedom of speech, movement, and peaceful assembly, and that treating activists and young students as criminals represents a grave constitutional violation. He urged Chief Minister Fadnavis to personally intervene, take cognisance of the crackdown, and direct administration officials to ensure the 'immediate and honourable release' of all detained individuals across the state.

Shiv Sena (UBT) Joins the Criticism

Separately, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) faction escalated its attack on the ruling establishment through an editorial in its party mouthpiece Saamana, accusing the government of 'driving Indian democracy to its grave.'

The editorial trained its sights on the intensifying political standoff surrounding Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, citing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's campaign against the CEC over allegations of electoral manipulation. The Thackeray camp alleged that rather than addressing charges of systemic electoral irregularities, the ruling establishment is shielding the election chief — an act it termed a 'betrayal of the nation.'

Allegations of Double Standards

The Saamana editorial alleged a sharp double standard in how protests were handled. It claimed that Opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were manhandled and bundled into police vehicles during peaceful demonstrations at Jantar Mantar, while Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Mahila Morcha activists staging demonstrations outside the Congress headquarters were reportedly granted immunity by the home ministry.

The Thackeray camp further alleged that the government was planning to deploy approximately two lakh members of Bajrang Dal to Jantar Mantar to suppress what it called the opposition's youth-led movement. It warned that relying on 'political gangs and private armies' to silence lawful dissent risks inviting civil unrest.

With detentions reported across Maharashtra and political temperature rising over electoral accountability, the episode is set to deepen the confrontation between the opposition and the ruling dispensation at both the state and national level.