Delhi police detain protesters during fifth day of electoral-roll demonstrations
Student and Youth Congress groups marched in central Delhi on October 14 over voter-list revisions, the election chief and Jantar Mantar’s protest-site status. Police detained protesters and traffic was disrupted.
Delhi police detained protesters during separate marches in central Delhi on October 14, the fifth consecutive day of demonstrations against the special intensive revision of electoral rolls and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Student and Youth Congress groups took part, while road closures and security restrictions disrupted traffic in parts of New Delhi district. The Hindu said the number detained at the Firoz Shah Road protest had not been made available.
Marches on Firoz Shah Road and toward Jantar Mantar
Members of the Students’ Federation of India and the Democratic Youth Federation of India marched on Firoz Shah Road. According to The Hindu, they opposed the removal of Jantar Mantar’s designated protest-site status and called for Kumar to resign. Police began detaining protesters who sat on the road; the report said some were pushed or bundled into vehicles by Delhi Police, the Rapid Action Force and the Central Reserve Police Force.
Indian Youth Congress workers separately marched from Patel Chowk Metro Station toward Jantar Mantar, carrying party flags and placards and demanding Kumar’s resignation. Police stopped the march near the Parliament Street police station, where protesters were detained and pushed into buses, The Hindu reported. The two marches brought different organisations into the wider dispute over the voter-list revision and the election chief.
Police cited Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita in warnings against unauthorised processions, protests and gatherings, according to The Hindu. Barricades, road closures and other security restrictions caused afternoon congestion and diversions in parts of New Delhi district, affecting travel around the protest areas.
How the Jantar Mantar jail order shaped the protests
The day’s demonstrations began with protests against the judicial custody of Cockroach Janta Party leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, The Hindu reported. The two had entered Jantar Mantar on October 13 after it lost its designated protest-site status. Reuters reported that they were jailed for five days following that entry. Their lawyer said they had violated a legal undertaking given to authorities when they were released from detention the previous week.
Delhi Police attributed the jail decision to repeated violations and concerns that Das and Ranka would break the law and instigate others if released on bail, according to Reuters. The Hindu traced the wider cycle of protests and detentions to October 10, when the Cockroach Janta Party called a demonstration against the electoral-roll revision and Kumar.
Election Commission response to the voter-list dispute
The Election Commission denied favouring any party in the voter-list revisions and said voters wrongly deleted from the rolls could re-enrol, Reuters reported. The BJP accused rivals of undermining democracy by questioning what it called legitimate electoral processes. Those responses address the electoral dispute behind the demonstrations, while the October 14 marches also focused on the restrictions at Jantar Mantar and the custody of Das and Ranka.
Sources and context
- Anti-SIR protests rock Delhi for the fifth day, hundreds detainedThe Hindu
- India's 'cockroach' movement leaders detained in jail for five days, party and police sayReuters, republished by The Straits Times
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