Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke, student leaders Neha Bora and Aishe Ghosh, and senior advocate Prashant Bhushan are among the prominent figures invited to a march in the Capital on Friday to "restore democracy", demand the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and press for the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Economist Parakala Prabhakar – husband of Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, actor-activist Prakash Raj, farmer leader Rakesh Tikait and author Tushar Gandhi have also been invited for the march that is also scheduled to be held in other parts of the country. Prabhakar earlier described the SIR process as a "bloodless political genocide of citizenship".
The marches – organised by People Against SIR, a week-old alliance of students, farmers and civil society groups – have been planned without police permission and are likely to run into trouble given the recent crackdowns on similar protests held without nod. To be sure, section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) that was imposed during the earlier protests continues to remain in force in the New Delhi district.
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"The People's March to Reclaim Democracy will not request police permission anywhere," the platform had said in a statement on October 18. It also warned the police, paramilitary personnel and prison authorities against using force on peaceful protesters. The platform has planned a “No SIR” campaign under the slogan “Har Gali Jantar Mantar, Har Gaon Jantar Mantar, Mera Ghar Jantar Mantar”.
The alliance said it has also invited the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). To be sure, there was no immediate comment or confirmation from the invitees on the march till the time of filing this report.
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According to the platform, the march in the Capital is scheduled to be held from Bangla Sahib Gurdwara in Connaught Place to the Election Commission’s office near Patel Chowk. If police block the route, the protesters will hold a "People's Parliament" and disperse after singing the national anthem, the group said.
There was no immediate comment from Delhi Police at the time of filing this report. Under section 163 of BNSS, public meetings or assembly of five or more people, processions, demonstrations, picketing or dharnas, shouting of slogans or making of speeches, carrying firearms, banners, placards, lathis, swords, sticks, brickbats, or similar articles are prohibited without prior written permission.
The People Against SIR group was formed on October 14 at Surjeet Bhavan in New Delhi by groups representing farmers, workers, women, students, Adivasis, Dalits and minorities. The platform has alleged that the SIR exercise is illegal and demanded the voter lists be reset to their pre-2024 version and updated through social audits as laid down in the Election Commission Manual and CAG guidelines.
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It has listed six “immediate” bottomlines and a second set of “key” demands. It has sought the removal and prosecution of Kumar, whom it referred to as “Gyanesh” and also sought revocation of the Election Commission of India’s legal immunity. "Gyanesh Kumar has violated his Constitutional pledge and must be prosecuted," the statement said.
Several people among the invitees were earlier detained for holding similar protests against Kumar. On October 10, Dipke and other CJP members – Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka – were held ahead of their march at Jantar Mantar – now a denotified protest zone. About 41,000 security personnel turned the Capital into a fortress to thwart the planned protest, launching an unprecedented clampdown that saw the detention of 7,000 people and left large chunks of Delhi deserted.
Dipke was released on Saturday and Das and Ranka were released on Wednesday.
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Bora – president of the All India Students’ Association (AISA) – was also detained as she gave a call to protesters to regroup at Dilli Haat on October 10. Security forces stopped the group on Sri Aurobindo Marg and put the leaders in a bus. Protesters blocked the bus with the leaders and stopped it from moving, and an hour-long scuffle followed. Ghosh was also held near Bangla Sahib that day. Bhushan was also detained by the police. They were later released.
Days before on October 6, INDIA bloc MPs, including Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, were detained as at least 300 lawmakers from the INDIA bloc marched from Parliament to the Election Commission.
The Election Commission and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have rejected the charges related to SIR. On October 10, BJP spokesman Sambit Patra called the protesters "anarchic elements".