Delhi protests spread across central Delhi on Friday evening as student organisations, political groups and other activists gathered at Connaught Place, Janpath and near Mandi House over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Police maintained a heavy presence, enforced restrictions on gatherings and detained several protesters as competing groups voiced opposition to and support for the exercise.
At Connaught Place, small groups carrying the Tricolour gathered around Palika Bazaar and parts of the Inner Circle following a call by the CJP for a ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ event. Protesters raised slogans and some marched around the Inner Circle, while Central Park remained out of bounds. Police initially allowed the gathering to continue but began asking people to leave at around 6.30pm. Detentions followed later in the evening.
Twelve activists, including six women from the Krantikari Yuva Sangathan, were reportedly detained from Gandhi Smarak and Central Park. One of those at the gathering, identified as Ishan, a Hindu College student, said several students from his college had joined the protest and questioned restrictions on the right to demonstrate.
At Mandi House, AISA president Neha Bora and representatives of Left-affiliated groups began a march at 5pm. Police intercepted the march, and women constables escorted Bora to a police vehicle amid pushing and jostling. She was taken to a Southwest Delhi police station, according to the report. Later at night, a delegation of lawyers and civil society members seeking her release reached Parliament Street police station and alleged that officers refused to meet them. Police did not respond to that allegation, the report said.
Other student and youth organisations, including SFI, DYFI, AISF and AIYF, had announced plans to join the event at Connaught Place. Protest activity also shifted to Janpath around 6.30pm, where AISA members and other Left-leaning student groups gathered with placards. The Aam Aadmi Party separately held a Tricolour march near Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The gatherings included both supporters and opponents of the electoral-roll revision. Alok Tiwari, who identified himself as a member of a group seeking to protect law and order, said protesters were obstructing public movement during the festive season. In contrast, Jharia, a trader at the Palika Bazaar roundabout, said his son’s and daughter’s names had been deleted from the electoral rolls and demanded that the exercise be revoked.
Participants also described earlier confrontations with police. Mumaina, a 73-year-old All India Democratic Women’s Association activist, said she had been detained on October 10 and criticised the way she was handled. Sana, a 32-year-old model, alleged that police had beaten her during protests on July 20 and October 10, and said demonstrators had moved beyond Jantar Mantar after being pushed out of the designated protest area.
The report did not provide a consolidated statement from Delhi Police on the total number of detentions, the legal grounds for the action or the restrictions imposed across the central Delhi locations. The protests and detentions continued into the night as groups carrying the national flag remained in and around Connaught Place.
