Delhi locks down to block protests seeking CEC Gyanesh Kumar exit

Forty five stations on the Delhi Metro network were closed, at least 245 trains arriving at or leaving New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin stations were cancelled, mobile Internet was shut down in a large part of Central Delhi, and layers of barricades were put up across the streets of the Capital and at its borders as the government moved to fortify the city against the protest called on Saturday by the Cockroach Janta Party, the All India Students’ Association and others to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

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On Friday evening, at least 30,000 police and paramilitary forces had thrown an unprecedented multi-level security blanket over Delhi. Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan wrote to all states and Union Territories to say that the government had prohibited Saturday’s assembly, and to direct them to coordinate with the Delhi Police to “pre-empt any breach of public tranquility and to safeguard critical infrastructure”.

Leaders of the political Opposition met with President Droupadi Murmu in the evening and handed her a memorandum on the alleged “vote chori” by the Election Commission and the central government. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said they would give a similar memorandum to Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant on Monday.