Akhilesh Yadav brands Delhi’s student crackdown as ‘Hitler‑like’ and calls Election Commission a ‘thief’

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav let his frustration run high, likening the police response to student protests in Delhi to the brutal tactics of Adolf Hitler. “They’ve learned from Hitler how to crush dissent and even mistreat women,” he said, pointing a finger at security forces that, according to him, behaved like fascist troopers.

Yadav’s anger was not limited to the police. He turned his ire on the Election Commission of India, branding it a “thief” that works hand‑in‑hand with the ruling BJP. “Who doesn’t know the EC is a thief? Who doesn’t know it serves the BJP? The BJP should just set up its office inside the EC,” he added, a sarcastic jab that underscored his belief that the poll body has lost any claim to impartiality.

The SP leader demanded the immediate release of the dozens of students arrested during the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protest at Jantar Mantar. “The students who were arrested by the government must be released immediately,” he urged, insisting that the crackdown violated basic democratic rights.

He also raised the issue of alleged voter‑list manipulations in Uttar Pradesh, questioning why no action had been taken against fraudulent Form 7 deletions. “The EC’s job is to add eligible voters, not to delete them,” Yadav argued, hinting that the commission’s inaction could tip the scales in the upcoming 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

The backdrop to Yadav’s tirade was a day of heightened tension in Delhi. The CJP‑led rally, which called for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, was met with a massive police deployment, barricades at the Ghazipur border and the closure of gates at 45 metro stations. Prominent opposition figures – Arvind Kejriwal, Pinarayi Vijayan and Mamata Banerjee among them – were also detained, fueling accusations of a systematic crackdown on dissent.

While Yadav’s remarks were fiery, they echo a broader narrative being advanced by opposition parties: that the current administration is turning the democratic space into a battlefield, using heavy‑handed tactics to silence criticism. Whether his “Hitler‑like” analogy resonates with the public remains to be seen, but the demand for accountability is certainly louder than ever.