CJP protest against Gyanesh Kumar LIVE: ‘All comrades, return to Jantar Mantar,’ Neha Bora says protest resumes today

The protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar will continue at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, on Saturday, October 3, said AISA chief Neha Bora, as thousands were detained during demonstrations on Friday.

Members of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), Opposition parties and students' wings launched a protest on October 2, Gandhi Jayanti, in Delhi and Mumbai to demand Gyanesh Kumar's resignation amid alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and mass deletion of voters.

After leading a massive demonstration at Shivaji Park in Mumbai which drew thousands of people, CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke on Friday night announced a fresh protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on October 10 if Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar did not resign.

The protests took place a week after the Indian Express investigation revealed Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected on record 14 times in 10 months to decisions taken in the Commission’s name without their knowledge, including the change to Form 6 (the form new voters fill) and the centralised control of ECINet, the software on which the electoral rolls were prepared during the SIR.

Delhi Police detains nearly 1,000 protesters

The Delhi Police detained nearly 1,000 people, including political leaders and activists of various student and civil society organisations, during a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar near Jantar Mantar on Friday.

The protest involved the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the All India Students' Association (AISA), the Students' Federation of India (SFI), the National Students' Union of India (NSUI), the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) and other student and youth organisations.

Many of the protesters, who gathered to demand Kumar's resignation, were later released. There were minor scuffles at some places as police stopped protesters, during which some police personnel suffered minor injuries, sources told PTI.

No permission was granted for the protest. Prohibitory orders were imposed in the New Delhi district. Around 5,000 Delhi Police and paramilitary personnel were deployed across the Lutyens' zone and surrounding areas. More than 10 companies of paramilitary forces were brought in as part of the security arrangements.

Amid the protests, internet services were suspended in central Delhi, while the entry and exit gates of 12 metro stations were closed as part of security arrangements. These included major stations, such as Rajiv Chowk and Central Secretariat.