Jantar Mantar has turned into the main stage for a growing campaign against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, with student and youth groups saying they will not back down even without police permission.
The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) planned a march to Jantar Mantar demanding Kumar’s resignation. The groups were refused permission, but a member said they would still go ahead, with about 1,500 people expected. The protest was set for October 2, Gandhi Jayanti.
Delhi Police responded by tightening security in the area. Barricades were put up at Jantar Mantar on Thursday after permission was denied.
What the groups want
- Organisers say they are worried about how the Election Commission is functioning.
- They also point to rising unemployment as a concern.
- The agitation is part of a larger push by activists and student bodies.
- That push centres on the Commission’s handling of electoral rolls.
- It also covers the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
- The SFI and DYFI have protested against Kumar and sought his resignation before.
Detentions on September 25
This is not the first protest at the site. On September 25, Delhi Police detained several people at a Jantar Mantar demonstration organised by the Delhi unit of the All India Students’ Association (AISA) along with other civil society members.
Those taken away included CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, activists Yogendra Yadav and Anjali Bharadwaj, and AISA national president Neha Bora.
A senior police officer said the organisers had not applied for permission, and that the protesters were being removed for that reason. The organisers saw it differently. Bora wrote on X that students were being detained to protect the CEC, while the SFI and DYFI called the police action an attack on democratic rights.
Organisers also said RJD MP Manoj Jha, lawyer Prashant Bhushan and Nandita Narain had joined the protest.
The demand is also being raised in other cities. Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), said the group would start its protest in Mumbai on October 2. CJP’s first demand is Kumar’s resignation and the start of criminal proceedings against him.
