NEW DELHI: Several students and activists, mostly from Left organisations, were detained on Friday near Jantar Mantar, where they reached to protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities related to the SIR of electoral rolls.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary MA Baby and veteran leader Brinda Karat, Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) president AA Rahim & general secretary Himaghnaraj Bhattacharyya, Students’ Federation of India (SFI) joint secretary and former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union president Aishe Ghosh were among those detained.
All India Students’ Association (AISA) activist Neha Bora, who claimed that she was detained thrice, warned that “Jantar Mantar 2.0 is not over. It has just begun.”
“They may think that by detaining us, they have brought the protest to an end. But this detention is in our support of democracy, and such detentions will continue,” she added. In a video released later in the evening, Neha said that they would return to Jantar Mantar on Saturday at 1 pm.
The detention of protesters drew condemnation from Left leaders, who questioned the police action against protesters seeking to raise their concerns. Despite the Delhi Police’s best efforts, hundreds of people led by the DYFI, SFI and various other student and youth organisations gathered at the site, the CPI(M) stated.
Meanwhile, dressed in ghost costumes and raising slogans, the Youth Congress (YC) workers led by national president Uday Bhanu Chib marched from the party office toward the Election Commission’s office. They were stopped on their way by police personnel, who had put up barricades.
“If questions are being raised over the Election Commission, the CEC must come forward and resign,” Chib said.
AAP leader and former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia reacted sharply to the detention of senior party leaders and hundreds of workers, writing on X, “Today, the Delhi Police is determined to suppress every voice demanding Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.”
AAP Delhi state president Saurabh Bharadwaj stressed, “Why would the government grant permission for a protest against itself?”
Police action on protesters condemned
The detention of protesters drew condemnation from Left leaders, who questioned police action against protesters. Despite the Delhi Police’s best efforts, hundreds of people led by DYFI, SFI and other student and youth organisations gathered at the site.
