Central Delhi has been turned into a fortress on Tuesday (October 6) morning as police braced for a march by Opposition MPs to the Election Commission, demanding answers over alleged electoral roll manipulation during the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
The Delhi Police have deployed additional personnel and put up multiple layers of barricades around sensitive points in the area. The security build-up follows several days of protests, detentions and clashes between demonstrators and police in the Jantar Mantar area.
The INDIA bloc (a coalition of lawmakers belonging to Opposition prties) had announced the October 6 march at a meeting on September 30. Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal said the MPs would march from Parliament to the Election Commission (EC) at 10.30 am. He said the protest would be peaceful and urged the police not to stop the march.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has said it will not take part in the protest march. It has also been involved in a series of protests being held in the national capital for the past few days.
Barricades across central Delhi
The police preparations follow repeated attempts by protesters to move towards Jantar Mantar despite restrictions on gatherings in the New Delhi district. Barricades were earlier placed around Connaught Place, Jai Singh Road, GPO and Sansad Marg to prevent large groups from reaching the protest venue. Prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNS) have also been imposed in the New Delhi district.
Hundreds of people were detained during the protest hat have been held in the last few days. On October 2, more than 500 protesters, including former Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj, AISA President Neha Bora and activist Yogendra Yadav, were detained during demonstrations demanding Kumar’s resignation.
The following day, around 200 protesters were detained near Jantar Mantar as they tried to cross police barricades. Senior advocates Prashant Bhushan and Kapil Sibal were also present during the protest.
On October 4, AISA President Bora was among protesters detained after student activists again attempted to move towards Jantar Mantar (a designated protest site). The demonstrations have involved student groups, civil society activists and Opposition supporters.
Allegation of sexual harassment
The security arrangements have also come during a separate dispute over the police handling of the October 3 protest.
Three women journalists who were covering the demonstration at Jantar Mantar alleged sexual harassment by police personnel. The Delhi Police said that the complaints had been received and transferred to the Crime Branch, Kamla Market, for a “fair and impartial enquiry”. Police officials said statements of the complainants were recorded and CCTV footage from the area would be examined.
