Over 100 detained in Delhi protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar

Delhi Police detained more than 100 protesters on Friday during a march in central Delhi against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The march was called on Thursday by the Delhi Coordination Committee of People Against SIR, a civil society collective. CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat, CPI’s P Sandosh, and members of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) and the All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO) also took part.

Around 2 pm, nearly 300 people gathered near Gole Dak Khana, at the intersection of Kalibari Marg and Bhai Vir Singh Marg. Carrying the national flag and banners, they demanded an end to the electoral roll revision exercise.

The protesters began marching towards Gurdwara Bangla Sahib. More than 1,000 police personnel and members of the Central Armed Police Forces were deployed in the area, with heavy barricading around the Election Commission of India (ECI) office and the protest site at Jantar Mantar.

Unable to proceed towards the ECI office, most demonstrators assembled at the roundabout near Bangla Sahib and staged a sit-in protest, which they called a “people’s Parliament”.

Around 3 pm, security personnel began detaining protesters. Within an hour, at least three buses carrying detainees had left for multiple detention centres.

By 4.30 pm, most of the area had been cleared.

In an announcement on its website, People Against SIR said 145 organisations would organise further protests in 88 cities across the country in the coming days.

Friday’s demonstration was the first major protest call since October 16, when Abhijeet Dipke of the Cockroach Janta Party announced a “Tiranga Lehra Do” protest at Central Park in Connaught Place.

More than 100 people were detained by the end of that demonstration, including All India Students’ Association (AISA) president Neha Bora.