IT WAS a day of protests on Gandhi Jayanti demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar as Opposition parties and student organisations took to the streets in Delhi while hundreds of people gathered at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park at the call of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) with more than 700 protesters detained in the national capital. The protests were part of a wider mobilisation by political parties, student organisations and youth groups demanding Kumar’s resignation and raising concerns over the electoral roll revision exercise. Protests were also held in several other parts of the country, includingAhmedabad, Lucknowand Patna. AAP leaders Atishi, Sanjay Singh, Saurabh Bharadwaj and Sanjeev Jha, CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby and veteran party leader Brinda Karat, CPI national secretary P Sandosh Kumar, RJD leader Manoj Jha, social activist Yogendra Yadav, AISA president Neha Bora, DYFI president and Rajya Sabha member A A Rahim and former Jawaharlal Nehru Students’ Union president Aishe Ghosh were among those detained by Delhi Police at Jantar Mantar and surrounding areas.(Contd from page 1) Opposition parties and activists denounced the government for the detentions, saying this is all ‘Godse-vadi’ people can do on Gandhi Jayanti and they don’t understand the essence of Gandhi. In Mumbai, CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke led the protests and activists from SFI and AISF were also present, so were veteran actors Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah and singer Vishal Dadlani.

 

Activist Tushar Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi’s greatgrandson, was also present. In Delhi, at several points like Feroz Shah road and Ashoka road, protesters tried to cross barricades as police personnel prevented them from proceeding towards the designated protest site Jantar Mantar. Amid the protests, internet services were suspended in central Delhi, while entry and exit gates at 12 Metro stations were closed during the day as part of security arrangements. These included major stations such as Rajiv Chowk, Central Secretariat and Janpath. The area around Jantar Mantar and roads leading to it witnessed chaotic scenes as protesters attempted to make their way through the barricades. Police personnel repeatedly made public announcements asking people not to gather at Jantar Mantar, saying no gathering had been permitted there. Protesters raised slogans against Kumar, including “Ek kachori, do samosa, Gyanesh tumhara kya bharosa” and “Gali-gali mein shor hai, ModiGyanesh vote chor hai”. They also carried placards bearing Kumar’s face with messages such as “Resign Do”. Indian Youth Congress protesters marched from the IYC office on Raisina Road towards Jantar Mantar, wearing masks bearing the faces of Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and carrying posters and banners demanding accountability from the poll panel.