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The Central Park in Delhi’s Connaught Place will remain closed to the general public on October 16 and 17, according to a public notice issued by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) on Thursday. The notice cited “administrative reasons” for the closure.
The development comes a day before the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) is scheduled to hold a protest at Central Park. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke has called for a gathering on Friday, October 16, asking people to carry the national flag. The Delhi High Court on Thursday declined to restrain Dipke and the CJP from holding the protest and recorded the Delhi Police’s assurance that it would take all possible measures to regulate and control the gathering.
The planned demonstration follows a major protest
crackdown in Delhi on October 10, when the CJP had called for a gathering at Jantar Mantar seeking the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. Jantar Mantar was no longer a designated protest site, and police had also denied permission for the demonstration.
New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) issues a public notice announcing the closure of Central Park, Connaught Place, for the general public on October 16 and October 17, due to administrative reasons. https://t.co/vSGTqaKVm2
— ANI (@ANI) October 15, 2026
The October 10 action saw large-scale detentions across the capital. More than 7,000 people were detained on Saturday, while more than 500 were detained the following day during flash protests, according to The Indian Express.
Among those detained were CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, who were taken into custody after arriving at Delhi airport. Opposition leaders, including Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and Pinarayi Vijayan, as well as activist Yogendra Yadav, advocate Prashant Bhushan and YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, were also detained at different locations.
Police had deployed around 25,000 personnel, while restrictions were imposed across central Delhi, including at Metro stations and roads, as authorities attempted to prevent protesters from reaching Jantar Mantar.
The October 16 protest is being held amid continuing political and legal tensions over the electoral-roll revision process and the action taken against protesters during the earlier demonstrations.
