Students and government job aspirants gathered in Lucknow on Friday for a protest over alleged examination irregularities, led by Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke, with demonstrators demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Candidates preparing for teaching, medical, revenue, administrative and other government recruitment examinations assembled at Eco Garden from the morning hours as part of the demonstration.
The protest forms part of a nationwide campaign launched by the CJP, which has already staged demonstrations in Delhi and Pune.
Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Babloo Kumar said permission for the event was granted after an application was submitted by an individual rather than an organisation.
"The application was submitted by a teacher, Vivek Kumar, late Thursday evening. After completing the required procedure, permission was granted," he said.
Kumar also dismissed reports claiming police had denied permission for the protest, stating that no application related to the demonstration had been received until Thursday evening.
According to police, permission for the protest is valid from 10 am to 4 pm, with nearly 1,000 participants expected to attend.
Earlier, Dipke had said the protest would remain peaceful and constitutional while highlighting concerns over alleged examination irregularities.
"We have held peaceful protests in Delhi and Pune. We are not doing anything wrong. We only want to put forward our views in a democracy," he had said.
The CJP is scheduled to hold similar demonstrations in Amritsar and Bengaluru before returning to Delhi's Jantar Mantar for a larger protest on June 20.
(With inputs from PTI)