Crackdown on Jantar Mantar 2.0, amid other closures, calls for redemocratisation

Systemic suppression drowns the democratic urge, diminishes people’s easy access to democracy and generally disincentivises fair competition. (Illustration: C R Sasikumar)

6 min readOct 13, 2026 06:22 AM IST First published on: Oct 13, 2026 at 06:22 AM IST

Delhi continues to be the battleground between protestors and the police. The government seems determined that there cannot be a Jantar Mantar 2.0. That has produced a closure — literally. But let us not forget where it all began. After months of persistent complaints over the exclusionary character of the SIR, the opposition parties, and now the CJP, are demanding the removal of the Chief Election Commissioner. This demand follows the insensitive response to complaints about the SIR and an equally unresponsive Supreme Court judgment on the issue. The judiciary and the ECI have, thus, produced a key closure over the issue of disenfranchisement. More closures stare us in the face.

Election outcomes become suspect; parties lose and elected representatives of the party are easily exported elsewhere. A closure. Maharashtra has witnessed that a party gets split and the party symbol easily goes to the breakaway faction. A closure. You challenge a law about the appointment of Election Commissioners and that faces many a curious closure.