Delhi Metro shut 45 stations and cancelled some train services on Saturday as security arrangements intensified around protests at Jantar Mantar, while the Aam Aadmi Party alleged that several demonstrators had been detained before reaching the protest site.
The closures began at 9 p.m. on Friday and were scheduled to continue until 6 p.m. on Saturday, according to an advisory issued by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. The disruption affected stations across the network and was announced as a security measure ahead of the planned demonstration.
The protest was called by the Cockroach Janata Party and several youth organisations at Jantar Mantar. Demonstrators were demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of vote theft, claims that were repeated by AAP leaders in their statements. The supplied report does not include a response from the Centre or the Election Commission to these allegations.
AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal criticised the police action against protesters and described the detention of people travelling to Delhi for the demonstration as worse than the Emergency. In a post on X, he alleged that the authorities were using force to suppress opposition and said that Mr. Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should leave office. These were political allegations made by Mr. Kejriwal and were not independently established in the report.
AAP Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj said protesters wanted to raise their concerns peacefully and accused the authorities of creating an atmosphere of fear through heavy security deployment. He called for the government to engage with young protesters rather than attempt to silence them through force.
AAP Delhi chief Gopal Rai also alleged that the Centre had imposed what he called a “black emergency” and said Delhi had effectively been turned into a cantonment to protect the Chief Election Commissioner. The report said that 23,000 security personnel had been deployed and that trains had been cancelled, but it did not provide a detailed station-wise account of the services affected.
For commuters, the Metro restrictions meant that journeys through central Delhi required alternative routes or modes of transport during the protest period. The immediate operational question was when the affected stations and train services would return to normal. The DMRC advisory specified 6 p.m. on Saturday as the planned end of the closures.
