Demonstrations are being held in Delhi, Mumbai and other cities on Friday demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and closure of the Special Intensive Revision or SIR campaign in the voter list.
Student organizations, Aam Aadmi Party, and social organizations had announced their participation in the protest in Delhi, while the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) has appealed to the people to gather at Mumbai's Shivaji Stadium on Friday evening.
People have started gathering in Shivaji Park in Mumbai and protesters are raising slogans there.
Here, in Delhi, the police had not given permission for the demonstration at Jantar Mantar and a large number of security forces have been deployed in the area.
Delhi Metro has closed many of its stations, but still many leaders have been detained while trying to reach Jantar Mantar.
Many opposition leaders, including RJD MP Manoj Jha, have been detained even before going to Jantar Mantar to protest on Friday.
Former Delhi Chief Minister Atishi was detained by Delhi Women Police. Former Delhi government minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Saurabh Bhardwaj and MP Sanjay Singh have also been taken into custody.
AISA leader Neha Bora detained by police. CPM General Secretary MA Baby is also among those detained.
News agency PTI, quoting police sources, claimed that hundreds of protesters have been detained by the police near Jantar Mantar.
Leaders and workers of leftist student organisations, AISA, SFI, CPM, CPI had started reaching Jantar Mantar in the morning itself.
However, Delhi Police had refused permission for the proposed protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar at Jantar Mantar on October 2.
Delhi Police had informed on Thursday evening itself that Section 163 has been imposed around Jantar Mantar. Also, heavy police force was deployed in the area.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, one of the people who called for the protest, said that metro stations have been closed, prohibitory orders have been imposed and internet has been shut down, police have cordoned off Jantar Mantar and people are being detained there.
Earlier, Cockroach Janata Party, student organizations, Aam Aadmi Party and many other organizations had announced protests on October 2, Gandhi Jayanti.
When CJP announced to hold its protest in Mumbai, other organizations had appealed to the people to reach Jantar Mantar in Delhi on October 2.
Delhi Police has not given permission to the march proposed by All India Students Association (AISA), Students Federation of India (SFI) and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI). However, the organizations had planned to gather despite this.
Aam Aadmi Party appealed to the people to join the demonstration.
AAP MLA and former Delhi Chief Minister Atishi on Thursday appealed to the people to reach Jantar Mantar at 10 am on Friday. He said in a post on X, "Let's go to Jantar Mantar on October 2, 2026 at 10 am."
In a video message, Atishi said, "When India became independent in 1947, the most important right we got was the right to vote. We could decide whose government would be formed and could choose our representatives. But today the BJP is trying to snatch this right from us through Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. If the right to vote is in danger, it means that our democracy is in danger. Therefore, I appeal to all of you to vote in your Reach Jantar Mantar at 10 am tomorrow, October 2, to protect the right to vote."
In these demonstrations, the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is being demanded.
This demand is being made regarding the functioning of the Election Commission and the way it handles matters related to voter lists.
The protest is taking place amid widespread protests by activists and student organizations over the way the Election Commission is handling the voter lists and the process of Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
Social workers and student organizations have called for this demonstration. Before the proposed demonstration, the police have also installed barricades on the roads leading to Jantar Mantar.
DCP of New Delhi wrote on social media platform
Criticizing Delhi Police, senior Supreme Court lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan wrote on Twitter, "On the orders of Modi/Shah, Delhi Police has completely closed down Central Delhi to stop the Jantar Mantar protest. 11 metro stations have been closed, prohibitory orders have been imposed and the internet has also been shut down! Police have surrounded Jantar Mantar and people are being detained there. MP Manoj Jha has also been detained.
“That too on the day of Gandhi Jayanti! Modi/Shah do not understand that this will increase people's anger and more people will take to the streets. How many people can they stop from protesting and how many can they detain? Eventually they will be unable to deal with this situation!”
In view of the demonstration, entry and exit have been banned at many metro stations in Delhi. Delhi Metro has said that entry and exit at the following metro stations will remain closed till further orders.
Janpath, Patel Chowk, Central Secretariat, Rajiv Chowk, Seva Teerth, Mandi House, Lok Kalyan Marg, INA, Chawri Bazaar, Ramakrishna Ashram Marg, New Delhi.
Sharing this information on Twitter, Delhi Metro said, "Interchange facility will be available at Rajiv Chowk, Mandi House, New Delhi and Central Secretariat stations."
Meanwhile, Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) founder Abhijit Deepke has announced a jail bharo movement at Mumbai's Shivaji Park on October 2 at 4 pm.
For this movement, CJP supporters started gathering in Shivaji Park and they are raising slogans regarding their demands.
Cockroach Janata Party has written in a post on X that people started reaching Shivaji Park two hours before the scheduled time and Mumbai will write history on 2nd October.
DeepK had earlier said that Mumbai Police had refused permission for CJP's proposed demonstration against Gyanesh Kumar. After this he announced that the organization would start "Jail Bharo Andolan" on the day of Gandhi Jayanti.
However, Mumbai Police clarified that in view of the 2013 Bombay High Court order, it is not authorized to allow any gathering at Shivaji Park. Police also said that this area is a silence zone.
