Dbarta24 Desk — Tensions escalated in the Indian capital on Friday as police detained nearly 500 demonstrators, including senior political figures and civic activists, who had gathered at Jantar Mantar to demand the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
The widespread demonstration follows mounting fury over alleged deliberate irregularities in the ongoing Special Summary Revision (SIR) of voter lists, which critics claim has disenfranchised hundreds of thousands of legitimate citizens.
Despite police denying permission for the rally on Thursday and deploying heavy security alongside mobile internet shutdowns around Jantar Mantar, hundreds attempted to gather carrying the Indian national flag and chanting anti-CEC slogans.
Demonstrators sought to frame their action within the spirit of non-violent resistance on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Police swiftly intercepted the crowd, bundling detainees into buses bound for various police stations across Badarpur and Outer North Delhi. Among those taken into custody were former Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Delhi chief Saurabh Bharadwaj, prominent social activist Yogendra Yadav, and All India Students’ Association (AISA) president Neha Bora.
As law enforcement sealed off Parliament Street and Jantar Mantar, the epicenter of the protests shifted post-noon to the nearby Janpath area, where fresh groups clashed verbally with security forces while attempting to march forward.
The unrest stems from an investigative report published last month by The Indian Express, which revealed systemic discrepancies in voter roll revisions, allegedly resulting in the deletion of lakhs of voters across regions.
Disenfranchised residents aired their frustration on the streets:
“Our future is our biggest motivation. I have to vote,” said Nidhi Sharma, a 19-year-old Delhi University student who joined the rally.
“Why was my fundamental right taken away?” asked Meena Giri, 38, who has lived and voted in Delhi for 15 years but recently discovered her name missing from the voter list.
“My family members’ names were also removed,” shared 18-year-old Imran. “Because of this, we are facing severe hurdles in preparing official identification documents and are being denied access to crucial government welfare benefits.”
While Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has not directly commented on the specific allegations raised in the news investigation, the Election Commission of India (ECI) dismissed the charges, maintaining that the reports presented only a selective, partial picture of a routine electoral updating exercise.