Delhi Police denied permission for the proposed protest at Jantar Mantar on October 2nd against the SIR row and CEC Gyanesh Kumar. The opposition is currently intensifying protests and demonstrations against the ongoing issues related to the electoral rolls.
Different opposition parties, outfits, and movements are continuing with campaigns against the Election Commission over the SIR exercise and demands for Kumar's resignation. The proposed protest is a part of the same, which was called by AAP Delhi President Saurabh Bharadwaj, in Jantar Mantar. Other protesting groups are likely to join or hold parallel protests.
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Leaders including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has demanded Kumar's resignation and said the party would "fight seriously" over the SIR issue and the EC row. The Congress Working Committee is also scheduled to discuss the issue on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said an INDIA bloc meeting is expected on September 30 to discuss the SIR exercise and the functioning of the EC, and urged that the deliberations not be restricted to bloc partners.
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Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray has also announced support for protests against Kumar, saying on X, "If Gyanesh doesn’t go, Mumbai will step out against Vote Chori from 2nd October, in huge numbers!!"
The developments come amid a wider Opposition campaign against the poll body. Congress stepped up its protests against Kumar on Monday, holding demonstrations in state capitals and districts and seeking to build a united Opposition front on the issue.
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Earlier, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti had also called for a protest at Jantar Mantar, appealing to people to participate in a demonstration centred on democratic and secular values.
The political row intensified following an investigative report by The Indian Express, which said 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.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission has rejected the suggestion that the reported objections represented institutional dissent, maintaining that decisions related to SIR were taken with the unanimous approval of the Commission.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke has announced a ‘Jail Bharo Andolan’ in Mumbai on October 2, after Mumbai Police did not permit the outfit's proposed protest at Shivaji Park against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Election Commission.
Dipke said the CJP would launch the agitation if it was denied the right to protest, as the outfit seeks Kumar's resignation amid the ongoing row over the functioning of the poll panel and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
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“Mumbai Police has also denied permission for our protest on 2nd October. Such tactics to suppress citizens' voices are unacceptable. If we are denied the right to protest, CJP will launch a Jail Bharo Andolan in Mumbai on Gandhi Jayanti,” Dipke said on X.
The CJP had originally planned to launch a nationwide protest from Mumbai on October 2 if Gyanesh Kumar did not resign as Chief Election Commissioner.
On September 25, Dipke said, “If Gyanesh Kumar does not resign by tomorrow, CJP will begin its nationwide protest from Mumbai on 2 October, and take it to cities across India. This Gandhi Jayanti, let's pledge to save democracy.”
(With inputs from ANI)
