Several protesters said they were surprised that they were allowed to assemble for hours without being detained by the police
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Tens of thousands of protesters gathered near the Mandi House in New Delhi on Monday for the ‘March for Democracy’ called by the INDIA bloc towards the Supreme Court, demanding the resignation of chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and large scale voter deletions.
After marching from Mandi House to Barakhamba Road (towards CP) and back to Mandi House and Bhagwan Das Road, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge along with other Opposition leaders filed a petition at the apex court regarding SIR irregularities.
Student groups including the Students Federation of India (SFI), All India Students’ Association (AISA), National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), also joined the march along with thousands of students and other protesters, in addition to INDIA bloc leaders and political parties.
Around 1-1.30pm, all the INDIA bloc leaders reached Constitution Club for a meeting and later left in a bus towards Barakhamba Road. Meanwhile, their supporters and other protesters gathered near Mandi House and later marched with buses (carrying MPs and leaders) towards Barakhamba.
Also Read:How Congress drew student leaders into INDIA bloc’s SC march against CEC Gyanesh Kumar
Lakshya Singh, 21, a Congress worker said he has been protesting against the CEC for weeks.
“We have been living in Delhi for decades now but my sister’s vote was deleted from the voter’s list. We are all angry. Many young students have been detained. I have brought my entire family here today. We are here to support Rahul ji. We need someone to make Gyanesh resign. Why is the CJI not meeting the opposition leaders? Why is there so much hesitation in taking action against the CEC? It looks like the entire election commission is corrupt but we are not going to tolerate this. We all want to vote and have a fair say in deciding our leaders,” he said.
Batman masks, memes as protest symbols
Students dressed up as batman, superman and even Raavan showed up to the protest with posters, whistles and drums to show solidarity with the leaders. Congress chief Kharge also wore a batman mask to support the students.
Carrying placards— “SIR—Silence, Intimidation, Repression,” “Gyanu, it’s done bro,” and “Vote Is a Right. Don’t Suppress It for Your Agenda”—protesters continued to gather at the Mandi House roundabout amid heavy security deployment.
Also Read:‘Batman Mode On’: Rahul Gandhi, Kharge pose with superhero masks during Opposition march to SC
Shoulder-to-shoulder with Neha Bora
After the march began from Barakhamba Road, AISA activist Neha Bora, activist Yogendra Yadav along with other leaders joined the INDIA bloc leaders in a bus.
Later, all of them stood atop a mini truck and raised slogans.
Bora was seen marching with Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. People cheered as she was later seen with the Gandhis, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav, Telangana CM Revath Reddy and All India Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra.
No detention is surprising
Several protesters said they were surprised that they were allowed to assemble for hours without being detained by the police. In the last few days, the Delhi police have detained Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress, INDIA bloc and Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders and protesters in New Delhi, lodged cases against them and detained them for hours.
Devesh, a 21-year-old college student and SFI activist, said he was detained on October 10 but returned to protest the following day despite his bruises.
“We don’t want the government to ignore us. It has been doing so by not allowing us to protest, which is making us even angrier. There is a trust deficit, and if the government does not take action against the CEC, it will only grow bigger,” he said.
Amansha Abdullah, a 20-year-old Jamia Milia Islamia student, said it has been a struggle for him to stand with his friends for 15 minutes without being detained. “We have been out for 3-4 hours and the police haven’t detained us today and that’s very unexpected. Normally, they would see some of us, pester us with questions regarding our whereabouts, and try to detain us immediately,” said Abdullah. “Today, probably because so many big leaders were out protesting, they haven’t detained us,” he added.
Meanwhile, Swati Joshi, a 26-year-old PhD scholar, felt uncertainty around detention. “They aren’t bothering us today, no one knows when the security personnel will start chasing us,” Joshi added.
Around 6pm, protesters began leaving the area as the INDIA bloc leaders left in a bus towards the Supreme Court. A group of protesters marched towards the Supreme Court and staged protests outside the gates amid heavy security. Later, the leaders filed the petition at the apex court.
Jignasa Sinha is a Special Correspondent at Hindustan Times in New Delhi. With more than six years of reporting experience, she covers crime and policing in the national capital. Her beats also include Delhi prisons, the Delhi Fire Services and Delhi courts, while she regularly reports on gender, labour and social justice. Over the course of her career, Jignasa has reported on major criminal investigations, international crime syndicates, high-profile cyber fraud cases, law-and-order developments, protests, disasters and public institutions. Her reporting combines breaking news with in-depth, long form, human interest stories that examine the human impact of public policy, policing and the criminal justice system. In addition to reporting for the newspaper, she contributes to the Hindustan Times website and app, and plays an active role in coordinating on-ground coverage of major developments and breaking news across Delhi. Before joining Hindustan Times, Jignasa worked at The Indian Express newspaper in New Delhi, where she spent five years covering crime, Delhi airport, courts and health. She began her journalism career as an intern at an AI magazine in Bengaluru while pursuing her postgraduate diploma in multimedia journalism at the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media.Read More
Gargi Shukla is a correspondent with Hindustan Times. She reports on schools, colleges and issues that affect students, teachers, parents, and educational institutions in India's capital. She closely tracks the political economy of education, student politics, and policy developments shaping the sector in Delhi. She earlier worked as a sub editor with Outlook Business.Read More
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