As opposition parties and student outfits took to the streets on Friday demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Delhi Police detained more than 700 protesters from Jantar Mantar and several locations nearby, including former Delhi chief minister Atishi.
NEW DELHI — As opposition parties and student outfits took to the streets on Friday demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Delhi Police detained more than 700 protesters from Jantar Mantar and several locations nearby, including former Delhi chief minister Atishi.
Slogans including "Ek kachori, do samosa, Gyanesh tumhara kya bharosa" and "Gali-gali mein shor hai, Modi-Gyanesh vote chor hai" were raised during the protest.
The protesters, including AAP leaders and members of AISA, SFI, NSUI and other student and youth organisations, are demanding Kumar's resignation over the alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and mass deletion of voters.
AAP leaders Saurabh Bharadwaj and Sanjeev Jha, along with some party workers, were detained at Jantar Mantar, while other protesters were detained at different locations as they tried to reach the protest site.
Atishi and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh were also among those detained. Police stopped Singh at North Avenue while he was on his way to the protest.
A police source said around 700 SFI members trying to reach Jantar Mantar at around 11 am were stopped at the Ashoka Road roundabout, with many of them detained.
Another police official said around 700 protesters, including AAP leaders and members of AISA, SFI, NSUI and other student organisations, were detained from Jantar Mantar and nearby areas.
Several NSUI activists, including its national president Vinod Jakhar, were also detained from the protest site. Jakhar was detained during a foot march from the organisation's office towards Jantar Mantar.
In a post on X, he said several NSUI activists had been taken into custody and alleged that activists were subjected to police action during the march.
"The voice of the people's votes cannot be suppressed by the might of any power," he said, adding that the organisation's "peaceful struggle for democracy" would continue.
Wearing masks bearing the faces of the CEC and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian Youth Congress protesters marched from the IYC office on Raisina Road, moving towards Jantar Mantar as they raised slogans and carried posters and banners demanding accountability from Kumar.
IYC president Uday Bhanu Chib led the demonstration, with the youth wing announcing plans to gherao the Election Commission office.
"We are protesting because the Election Commission is responsible for protecting the sanctity of every vote. When questions are being raised within the Commission itself over decisions concerning electoral rolls, the country deserves answers and accountability," Chib said.
Police said permission had not been granted for the proposed gathering and deployed additional personnel and barricades in and around Jantar Mantar.
Prohibitory orders were also imposed in the area to prevent an unauthorised gathering.
Several protesters were seen trying to cross barricades at Firoz Shah Road as police attempted to stop them from reaching the protest site.
Police personnel also made repeated public announcements asking people not to gather at Jantar Mantar as no gathering had been permitted there.
In a video message, Bharadwaj said police had told them that permission had not been granted for the protest. He questioned why permission was needed to hold a demonstration in a democracy when Jantar Mantar was a designated protest site.
He said the party had submitted letters seeking permission about a week earlier and added, "We are exercising our democratic right to raise our concerns."
Bharadwaj also appealed to people to travel to the nearest open metro station and, if possible, walk to the protest site, saying several stations near Jantar Mantar had been closed.
After being stopped from reaching the protest site, Singh said he was sitting on a dharna in front of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the Parliament premises against "vote theft".
"The end of dictatorship will come, Modi-Gyanesh will have to go," he said.
SFI general secretary Aishe Ghosh said several SFI and DYFI activists had been detained.
"Delhi Police is not being able to stop crimes in the capital but when it comes to the protection of someone like Gyanesh Kumar, they get down on the streets," Ghosh said.
"This is not democracy. If police think they can stop the movement by detaining us, we want to tell them that this is just the start," she said.
AISA activists alleged that police used force against protesters, including women, during the detentions.
An AISA activist, while being detained, said, "No matter how much lathi charge you use or no matter how many of us you put in jail, Gyanesh Kumar has to resign."
The protest is a part of a wider mobilisation by political parties, student organisations and civil society members against the SIR exercise and the Election Commission.
The Delhi Metro temporarily closed entry and exit at 12 stations in central Delhi, including Rajiv Chowk, Central Secretariat and Jantar Mantar, as part of security arrangements around the protest.
Internet services were also suspended at the protest site and in surrounding areas.