SIR row: Jantar Mantar entrance barricaded ahead of protests; Gaurav Gogoi, others detained in Assam
NEW DELHI: Jantar Mantar in Delhi was heavily barricaded on Friday following nationwide protests demanding the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.Visuals from the protest site showed multiple layers of barricades, forming a clear cordon around Jantar Mantar. Buses have been used to block the entrances and there is heavy police deployment.The Indian Youth Congress was scheduled to march from Raisina Road to Jantar Mantar.
(Photo: Piyal Bhattacharjee) Jantar Mantar barricaded for protestors
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said on Friday that his organisation would launch nationwide protests from October 2 if Kumar did not resign by Saturday. A day earlier, he had warned of a “Jantar Mantar 2.0” agitation if the CEC refused to step down.Security personnel were also deployed outside the Election Commission office in New Delhi ahead of a Delhi Congress demonstration over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.The protests follow an Indian Express report that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions and orders related to the SIR process.The report said their concerns included voter registration, deletion and restoration of names and access to electoral-roll databases.
Gogoi detained in Assam
In Assam, state Congress president Gaurav Gogoi and several senior party leaders were detained while trying to cross police barricades during a protest demanding Kumar’s removal, police said.Police also used water cannons to disperse protesters in Chandigarh and Patna.Gogoi had led a march from the Congress state headquarters, Rajiv Bhawan, towards the CEC’s office, where the protesters planned to burn an effigy of the CEC. Police had put up barricades near Rajiv Bhawan. The protesting leaders, including Gogoi, attempted to cross them and were subsequently detained.
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Those detained included AICC secretary Manoj Chauhan, Seva Dal president Deep Bayan and APCC general secretary Udit Bhanu Das, along with several others.Congress spokesperson Bedabrata Bora alleged that the leaders were “forcefully arrested” and claimed that “this is yet another threat to democracy”.The developments comes a day after leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi criticised Kumar following reports of differences within the Election Commission over the SIR of electoral rolls.
