The Quint

Day 2 of the protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar saw fresh detentions near Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Saturday, October 3, after protesters attempted to march towards the protest site despite police denying permission for the demonstration. Around 150 protesters were detained, according to the police, including AISA national president Neha Bora, activist Yogendra Yadav and senior advocate Prashant Bhushan. Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal and lawyers Nitya Ramakrishnan and Pallav Sisodia were also among those who joined the march alongside AISA activists and students. The protesters began marching from Patel Chowk towards Jantar Mantar and crossed the first set of police barricades before being stopped near Jantar Mantar Road. Police then moved several protesters into buses. Bora, who had also been detained during Friday’s protest, had called on activists to return on Saturday and continue the mobilisation. The police deployment around central Delhi was heavy, with around 5,000 police and paramilitary personnel deployed and multiple layers of barricades put up around the protest site. Prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS remained in force in the New Delhi district. AISA members alleged that Bora was manhandled by a male police officer and abused by another officer during the detention. These allegations had not been independently verified at the time of reporting. The protests were centred on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with protesters demanding Kumar’s resignation and raising concerns over the electoral-roll revision process. The mobilisation follows reporting that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections at least 14 times over the past 10 months to certain SIR-related decisions and orders. The Election Commission has said that differing views and observations are a normal part of institutional deliberations and that its orders have full legal sanction and follow established procedures. Meanwhile, NSUI held a separate protest at India Gate, with student activists demanding Kumar’s resignation and arrest and calling for greater transparency and accountability in the functioning of the Election Commission. Today’s action came a day after nearly 1,000 protesters were detained across Delhi on Friday, including political leaders, student activists and civil-society members, as police prevented groups from reaching Jantar Mantar. Delhi Police has since registered three FIRs in connection with Friday’s protests. The Saturday mobilisation therefore marked a second consecutive day of attempts to reach Jantar Mantar – and a second day of mass detentions over protests against the CEC and the SIR exercise.