Anti-CEC protests LIVE: ‘Har gali mein Jantar Mantar’ march scheduled today; Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora invited

Key Events

• 20 Sec agoCJP's Ranka, Das likely to get fresh summons today
• 16 Mins agoKharge demands removal of CEC, repeal of immunity law
• 19 Mins agoFarmers' body to join protest today
• 23 Mins agoWhat is People Against SIR, the group organising the march?
• 56 Mins ago‘Har gali mein Jantar Mantar’ march today

Anti-CEC protests LIVE: Students and citizens raise slogans as they conduct a march from the Press Club of India under the banner ‘Reclaim Jantar Mantar’, demanding the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, in New Delhi.

Among the prominent figures invited include CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, actor Prakash Raj, student leaders Neha Bora and Aishe Ghosh, senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, farmer leader Rakesh Tikait and activist Tushar Gandhi.

‘Har Gali mein Jantar Mantar’

"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 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 that 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.

CJP's Ranka, Das likely to get fresh summons today

Cockroach Janta Party co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka will be issued fresh notice to join the police probe in the two cases against them after they failed to appear earlier, officials aware of the matter told HT.

A senior police officer said that the Delhi Police crime branch had issued a notice to Das, Ranka, and CJP member Ajinkya Shinde to join the probe on Thursday.

Why CEC Gyanesh Kumar is under fire

CEC Kumar is at the centre of a controversy involving the Election Commission following an investigative report by The Indian Express that claimed Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months regarding decisions and procedures linked to the SIR exercise.

The Election Commission has rejected these allegations, saying that major decisions, including the SIR of electoral rolls, had been taken unanimously by the full commission.

RTI reveals Cabinet Secretariat sent election commissioners’ letters to CEC

The Cabinet Secretariat forwarded the letters written to the Cabinet Secretary by election commissioners Sukhbir Sandhu and Vivek Joshi about the alleged misconduct of senior deputy election commissioner (DEC) Maneesh Garg to the office of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, in addition to sending them to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), according to information obtained through a Right to Information (RTI) application.

A document released in response to the application shows that on August 3, the secretariat proposed seeking CEC Kumar's opinion on the letters.

Another, on August 4, noted that the letters from the commissioners were in their individual capacity and not a formal communication from the Election Commission of India.

The only response to the two commissioners was an acknowledgement that their letters had been received. The acknowledgements dated August 5 were copied to the secretary, department of personnel and training (DoPT), the establishment officer in DoPT, and the principal private secretary to the chief election commissioner.