Daily protests in Delhi against a disputed revision of electoral rolls have drawn detentions and sweeping restrictions. Protesters want the revision scrapped and chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar removed. The revision is reported to have struck 130 million people off the register.
Before a Cockroach Janta party protest on Saturday, authorities cancelled 245 trains to Delhi and shut 45 metro stations. Internet service was cut in the city centre, liquor shops closed and activists placed under house arrest. Barricades and road closures restricted movement over the weekend.
The party’s founders were removed from a flight after it landed in Delhi. Opposition leaders were held at police stations for more than eight hours, while footage showed students and activists being beaten and dragged from the streets. Some journalists were also detained. In Mumbai, police detained Tushar Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi’s great-grandson, to stop him joining a demonstration.
On Monday, Delhi police removed Jantar Mantar’s designation as a protest site and recommended three alternatives.
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