Delhi restricts travel ahead of youth-led election protest

Indian authorities deployed more than 30,000 police and paramilitary personnel across Delhi and blocked access to a central protest site ahead of a Saturday march demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) plans to march to Jantar Mantar despite police denying permission for the gathering. Roads to the site have been sealed with metal barricades, while train cancellations and metro closures have disrupted travel in and around the capital.

The protesters are challenging a voter-list revision known as the Special Intensive Revision. The Election Commission says the exercise is intended to remove duplicate and ineligible entries; more than 130 million names have been struck from the rolls. The CJP, opposition parties and activists allege that eligible voters have also been removed and that the process favours Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. The Election Commission and the BJP deny the allegations.

Delhi Police official Nupur Prasad said the CJP had given too little notice to hold an event at Jantar Mantar. Under current guidelines, organisers must apply at least 10 days in advance, she said. Prasad also cited what she described as the group’s failure to follow lawful directions during previous protests. The CJP disputes the need for police approval, saying it is legally required only to inform authorities of a gathering.

Police said the restrictions were necessary for public safety and to prevent overcrowding at Jantar Mantar, which can accommodate 1,000 people at a time, according to the BBC. Protesters who arrived early were stopped and questioned, the BBC reported, and traffic diversions turned one normally 15-minute journey into a trip of more than an hour.

Al Jazeera, citing Indian news agency ANI, reported that authorities had shut 57 metro stations from Friday night and suspended mobile internet within 4km (2.5 miles) of the protest area until Saturday night. It also reported that India’s Supreme Court said Friday that some trains must continue to run and that a blanket closure of metro stations was unlikely.

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said the group would march to Jantar Mantar “come what may.” In a post addressed to Modi, he added: “If you want to jail us or even shoot us we are prepared.” The CJP says at least 10,000 people have been detained across India, including protesters travelling to Delhi by train.

The planned rally follows protests in Mumbai and Bengaluru demanding Kumar’s resignation. Opposition parties, farmer organisations and student groups are also backing Saturday’s demonstration, the BBC reported. Earlier this week, police broke up three days of protests in Delhi involving opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and other lawmakers.

The CJP gained prominence during demonstrations demanding education reforms in July. Those protests led to Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, an outcome the BBC said was seen as a major victory for the group. Al Jazeera reported that the resignation followed protests over exam paper leaks. The CJP’s latest campaign has focused on the electoral rolls and Kumar’s leadership of the Election Commission.