‘More Than 10? Pick Them Up’: How Delhi Police Planned Its EC Protest Crackdown

At 1 pm on Gandhi Jayanti, a line of Delhi Police officers stood along Janpath Road, leaning against barricades that blocked the route towards Jantar Mantar.

Across the road, 50-60 protesters stood in small groups of five or six. Some danced near McDonald’s, while others raised slogans against the Election Commission.

“Should we get them inside a bus?” one police officer asked his senior.

“Wait. If they stand in a group of more than 10, then pick them up,” came the reply.

The exchange captured the approach adopted by Delhi Police on Thursday as opposition parties and student organisations gathered in the capital to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Unlike the large gathering at Jantar Mantar two months earlier, police moved early to prevent a sizeable crowd from forming.

In July, the protest site and nearby Parliament Street had been packed with demonstrators after Cockroach Janta Party’s Abhijeet Dipke began a hunger strike. This time, the area around Parliament Street police station and Jantar Mantar was sealed before the crowds could build.

When Aam Aadmi Party Delhi chief Saurabh Bhardwaj arrived around 10.30 am, police quickly detained him and put him on a bus.

For the next five hours, protesters arriving from Ashoka Road, Janpath and Tolstoy Road were stopped near the Parliament Street roundabout. They were detained and taken in buses to Fatehpur Beri and Badarpur police stations.

By the time All India Students’ Association national president Neha Bohra arrived with activist Yogendra Yadav and RTI activist Nikhil Dey, police said around 500 people had already been detained.

Bohra, wearing a red T-shirt, crossed Ashoka Road and attempted to enter Parliament Street. Police pushed her back. She and Yadav then sat on the road as supporters raised slogans.

DCP (New Delhi) Sachin Sharma approached from behind the barricades as officers in riot-control gear formed a line.

The three were soon lifted and carried away by police officers, with four officers carrying each protester, before they were put into a bus. It was the 18th bus filled with protesters since morning.

“Gandhi diwas pe Gandhi ke desh mein jo ho raha hai, aap dekh rahe hain,” Yadav shouted from inside the bus. “This government is acting like the British government. And we are trying to save the country with the flag.”

By afternoon, police said more than 700 people had been detained. Those detained included former Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and RJD MP Manoj Jha.

In a video posted on X, Atishi alleged that AAP leaders and workers had been detained despite protesting peacefully at Jantar Mantar.

Bhardwaj, in a video message before the protest, said demonstrations were a democratic right but claimed police had denied permission for the gathering despite the party applying six days earlier to hold a peaceful demonstration.

SMALLER GROUPS KEEP PROTEST ALIVE

Despite the large-scale detentions, smaller groups continued to gather around Janpath and Tolstoy Marg.

College students carrying backpacks and wearing red gamchhas stood alongside middle-aged men and women. At Tolstoy Marg, protesters raised their fists and phones as slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and CEC Gyanesh Kumar broke out at regular intervals.

A young man in a red kurta held up a hand-painted poster reading, “Gyanesh, it’s done bro.” The poster also carried references to “vote chori”, “objections” and “SIR”, along with a drawing of an EVM.

For some protesters, the demonstration was about more than the demand for the CEC’s resignation.

“The protest is against Gyanesh and the Election Commission. But there’s a larger context, I feel. The resignation of CEC Gyanesh isn’t the only thing. People are upset with the SIR. This is a disenfranchisement of millions of voters,” said Pawan, a 36-year-old IT professional from Andhra Pradesh.

“I’ve been here for two hours and I’ve not been able to enter the protest site. People were just standing but they’re being chased and detained,” he said.

Another protester, 26-year-old Chhai from Mayur Vihar, said he had come to demand accountability from the Election Commission.

“I feel it is my duty to do this,” he said.

As the day progressed, buses continued to arrive and leave with detainees.

“The buses kept coming. Any sort of major leader who was gathering a crowd or media attention was being detained,” Chhai said.