A planned protest at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on October 10 has triggered traffic restrictions, metro station closures, railway cancellations and heightened security across the capital, with movement expected to be affected at 30 key points, according to the Delhi Traffic Police and reporting by The Hindu.
The protest has been called by the Cockroach Janta Party, along with student organisations, social activists and farmer organisations. Organisers are demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the rollback of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The Delhi Police has denied permission for the gathering, but the organisers have asked supporters to reach Jantar Mantar at 10 a.m.
Traffic diversions were scheduled to begin at 6 a.m. and will be enforced depending on the prevailing law-and-order situation, the Delhi Traffic Police said in an advisory. Restrictions are expected around Connaught Place, Mandi House, Jantar Mantar, Patel Chowk and other intersections in Lutyens’ Delhi. The measures are likely to affect commuters travelling through central New Delhi and people accessing government offices, commercial areas and transport interchanges.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has also announced the closure of stations in view of the proposed protest. The supplied report does not provide the full station list, but said the closures formed part of wider security arrangements around the protest site. The Hindu also reported that trains had been cancelled, affecting passengers who were due to arrive in Delhi as well as those scheduled to return in the following days.
At Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station, porters told The Hindu that the cancellations could reduce their incomes not only on the day of the protest but for several days afterwards. One 34-year-old porter, who asked not to be identified, said trains arriving early on October 10 had departed before the cancellations were announced, while services scheduled later in the day and over subsequent days had been affected. He said passengers who had planned to board return trains would also face inconvenience.
Security measures were extended to university areas on Friday night. Students reported being stopped near campus locations while attempting to travel towards the protest site. Ebin Basil, secretary of the NSUI unit at Jamia Millia Islamia, told The Hindu that four women students were detained near Jamia at about 11.30 p.m. before being released at around 3 a.m. after student representatives approached the police station. The account was provided by the student representative and was not independently confirmed in the supplied report.
At Jawaharlal Nehru University, campus gates were barricaded late at night, after which students began protesting. Aditi, the JNUSU president, said around 3,000 students had joined a campus protest on July 20 and that a similar turnout was expected for the October 10 mobilisation.
CJP founder Dipke said in a late-night post on X that he would reach Delhi at 9.30 a.m. and urged supporters to remain peaceful. He said the protest should continue even if he was detained or arrested, framing the mobilisation around demands for free and fair elections, the rollback of the Special Intensive Revision and the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner.
The traffic restrictions, metro closures, railway cancellations and campus-level security measures will remain subject to the law-and-order situation and instructions issued by the authorities during the day.
