Twelve metro stations were halted, and 500 people were detained, including AAP leaders Atishi and Sanjay Singh.

The demonstration at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar intensified on Friday despite the Delhi Police detaining more than 500 demonstrators who had assembled to call for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. AAP officials, such as Saurabh Bharadwaj, Atishi, and Sanjay Singh, as well as activists from student organizations, were among those arrested.

While attempting to get from Ashoka Road to the protest venue, the demonstrators were arrested. Unauthorized assemblies and protests were prohibited in the New Delhi district by Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). In protest at the Election Commission’s operations and its management of electoral rolls, student groups called for the CEC’s resignation on Gandhi Jayanti.

Delhi Police have not authorized the planned march by the All India Students’ Association (AISA), Students’ Federation of India (SFI), and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI). The mobilization coincides with broader demonstrations by student organizations and activists against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and the Election Commission’s management of electoral records. According to police officials who spoke to news agency ANI, Delhi Police has not yet authorized the planned protest at Jantar Mantar on October 2.

Student organizations and social activists have called for the protest. In advance of the planned protest, police have also erected barricades on the roads that lead to the Jantar Mantar area. On October 2 at 4 p.m., Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) campaign, announced a parallel “Jail Bharo Andolan” at Shivaji Park in Mumbai.

Dipke had previously stated that the CJP’s planned protest against Kumar had been denied permission by Mumbai Police. The organization would begin the “Jail Bharo Andolan” on Gandhi Jayanti, he later declared. However, Mumbai Police emphasized that, due to a 2013 Bombay High Court judgment, it was “not empowered to provide permission” for a meeting at Shivaji Park. Additionally, the police declared the area to be a “silent zone.”

AAP MLA and former Delhi chief minister Atishi on Thursday appealed to people to reach Jantar Mantar at 10am on Friday. In a post on X, she said, “Let’s go to Jantar Mantar 2 October 2026 10 AM.”

In a video message, Atishi said, “When India became independent in 1947, the most important right we received was the right to vote. We could choose whose government would be formed, and we could choose our own representatives. But today, the BJP is trying to snatch that right away from us through Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. If the right to vote is in danger, it means our democracy is in danger. Therefore, I appeal to all of you to reach Jantar Mantar tomorrow, October 2nd, at 10:00 AM to protect your right to vote.”

The protest comes amid criticism of the Election Commission over the SIR of electoral rolls. The controversy intensified after a newspaper report that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over 10 months to decisions and orders, some of which they said were issued without their knowledge. However, the ECI has said that the three-member poll panel took all decisions unanimously, including those concerning the SIR.