The Delhi Police on Sunday detained at least 100 students who were protesting against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The students were intercepted by police while they were marching towards Connaught Place as a mark of protest.
The protest was called by student organisation DISHA, which demanded the rollback of the SIR exercise. The police action came amid growing Opposition protests against the SIR process and demands for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
INDIA Bloc Holds ‘Chalo Dilli’ Mega Rally
Hundreds of supporters had converged at Minto Road on Sunday as the INDIA bloc kicked off its high-decibel ‘Chalo Dilli’ mega march against Gyanesh Kumar. The march started from the Minto Road-Connaught Place junction towards Ramlila Maidan.
The rally formed a central part of the Opposition’s nationwide protest against alleged irregularities in electoral rolls during the Election Commission’s SIR exercise.
Top Opposition leaders, including Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, TMC leader Mamata Banerjee, MP Abhishek Banerjee, Telangana CM Revanth Reddy, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, JKNC president Farooq Abdullah, CPI leader D Raja, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav attended the rally, showcasing the united opposition front.
Several Opposition leaders participating in the rally accused the CEC of irregularities in the electoral process and questioned the conduct of the voter-list revision exercise.
The opposition coalition alleges widespread, unverified deletions of legitimate voters—particularly from marginalised, backwards, and minority communities—under the Election Commission’s SIR of voter lists.
The INDIA Bloc has demanded the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, accusing the Election Commission of India (ECI) of failing to maintain electoral integrity. The rally follows a “mock impeachment” event held at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence a day prior.
(With PTI inputs)
