New Delhi: Slogans calling for the removal and arrest of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar rang out at Jantar Mantar Friday afternoon as people gathered for a citizens’ protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and alleged irregularities in the functioning of the poll panel.From 2pm to 3.30pm, protesters gathered at the site with placards, posters and banners that read “Impeach and Arrest Gyanesh Kumar” and “Suspend SIR forthwith”.The demonstration was held amid heavy police deployment at the protest site. Police had restricted movement towards Jantar Mantar before the gathering began, while repeated announcements were made asking people to follow instructions and remain within the designated area.As the protest continued, police moved in and detained several participants. They were later taken away in police buses. Media personnel were also removed from the protest site, an action witnessed by this reporter.“We are here because voting is our basic right. If names can be added or removed from the rolls, there should be complete transparency about how it is being done and people should be given a chance to raise objections,” said Zain Farooq (47), a protester.Another participant, Nandita Kumari, said: “People are already struggling to get their voter details corrected. They cannot keep making repeated visits to offices and centres. The commission should make the process simpler and answer the concerns of voters.”“The SIR process has made many people worried about whether their names will remain on the voter list. If a genuine voter’s name is removed, there must be a clear way for them to challenge it and get it corrected,” said another protester, Davik Sharma.One of the outfits at the protest, Voter Adhikar Manch, said that police detained several protesters, such as AISA’s Neha Bora, RTI activist Anjali Bhardwaj, activist Yogendra Yadav and CPI’s Dipankar Bhattacharya.Activists Kavita Srivastava, Navsharan and Amrita Johari said that police had put up eight rows of barricades, stopped the protest and detained several protesters. They said that the detained agitators were taken to different police stations. Their whereabouts were not disclosed, the activists said.Later in the evening, a senior police officer said around 50-60 people were detained and taken to different police stations. They were later released.Swaraj India’s Yogendra Yadav later posted a video on X, claiming that at least 30 people, including women, had been kept in a bus for nearly two hours after being detained during the protest.He alleged that the detainees had not even been provided water. “Questioning those who tampered with votes is a crime, so we will commit this crime again and again,” Yadav wrote.Bora said in a video that she and other protesters were taken to Kanjhawala police station after being detained. “We will come again tomorrow,” she said, while demanding the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar and the scrapping of the SIR.
