Hyderabad: About 100 protesters gathered at Dharna Chowk on Sunday in solidarity with students and activists protesting in Delhi against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and demanding the resignation or arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.Among those present were two of the four Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) members from Telangana — M Ranga Sai Reddy and Rajesh Korapaka — who were detained by Madhya Pradesh police in Bhopal on Oct 8 and later escorted back to Hyderabad. They were allegedly stopped from travelling to Delhi to join the protest at Jantar Mantar.Speaking to TOI, the two claimed that the police had prior information about their movements. “They had pictures of us when we were starting from Secunderabad,” said Korapaka, speaking on the sidelines of the protest organised by Disha Students’ Organisation and Bhagat Singh Jan Adhikar Yatra, where they demanded that electoral rolls be restored to their earlier form, fresh elections be conducted in states where SIR had been implemented, and electronic voting machines (EVMs) be replaced with ballot papers.Protestors comprising youth activists, students, members of left-wing organisations and citizens called for the repeal of the 2023 law governing the appointment of election commissioners and the resumption of new voter registrations using the earlier Form 6 process.Korapaka, meanwhile, alleged that the phones of all four had been confiscated almost immediately after detention and began “behaving abnormally” after they were returned — almost 24 hours later. “The apps were opening, and the audio was playing even when no app was running in the background,” chipped in Reddy. He also shared how there was a heavy deployment of police around them during their detention.“There were two IPS officers, four ACPs, some constables, and officers in civil uniform,” he claimed, further alleging that the four were taken to an undisclosed guest house and questioned about their travel, occupation, income and bank accounts.According to Reddy, a supporter from Bhopal had traced them through social media, following which around 100 people, including NSUI members and other student activists, had gathered, demanding their release. “Police later shifted us between three locations, also making us jump a rear wall at one point,” he added.Condemning these detentions, a protester at Sunday’s gathering, 26-year-old Sai Kiran Reddy, said: “What kind of freedom is this if people are not even allowed to move freely? With the metro services disrupted and the internet shut down, it felt as though an Emergency had been imposed across the country.”Reddy said they have no immediate plans to return to Jantar Mantar but would certainly intensify their campaign through rallies and morchas across Telangana. “We will not back down from our protest; even though we could not make it to Jantar Mantar, our fight will continue until the CEC resigns,” said a CJP member.
