Most cities in Uttar Pradesh, including Lucknow, Prayagraj, Kanpur and Varanasi, witnessed mild or no protests regarding the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) call for an agitation at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Saturday to press for the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over their “vote theft” allegations. The protests were completely peaceful and did not pose much of a challenge to the police.
Police in all cities, especially the state capital and Uttar Pradesh districts bordering Delhi, were especially alert since Friday evening. No protests were reported from Agra, Meerut and Gorakhpur.
In Prayagraj, a section of Allahabad high court lawyers staged a demonstration in front of the Ambedkar statue under the banner of the Adhivakta Manch and carried posters demanding the CEC’s resignation. They burnt a photograph of Gyanesh Kumar and submitted a seven-point memorandum addressed to the President to the administration.
Advocate Ramkumar Gautam said that the decision to withdraw the newly added clause in ‘Form 6’ clearly indicated that the move had been illegal. The gathering was addressed by advocates Hridayesh Yadav, Kapil Dev, Ramesh Kumar, Shamshul Islam, Abdul Mateen, Mushtaq Ahmed, Raghavendra Yadav, Sohan Lal Yadav, Annu Singh, Ravindra Singh, Jitendra Nayak, and Rajvendra Singh, among others.
Student and youth organisations staged a protest near All Saints Cathedral in Civil Lines, demanding the CEC’s resignation, scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process and a return to paper ballots.
{{/usCountry}}Student and youth organisations staged a protest near All Saints Cathedral in Civil Lines, demanding the CEC’s resignation, scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process and a return to paper ballots.
{{/usCountry}}Organised by the Disha Chhatra Sangathan and Naujawan Bharat Sabha, the protest saw activists allege a lack of transparency in electoral rolls.
The police reportedly detained competitive exam aspirants who were preparing to travel to Delhi as part of the nationwide movement against the CEC. Ashutosh Pandey, a student leader, was allegedly kept under house arrest at his lodge from Friday evening until Saturday evening.
In Kanpur, Samajwadi Party workers staged a protest at Ramadevi flyover, attempting to hang an effigy of the CEC. Police reached the spot, seized the effigy and detained the protesters. Khalid Raza, national secretary of the Samajwadi Lohia Vahini, the party’s youth wing, was among those taken into custody.
Meanwhile, 1,600 tickets for the Shram Shakti Express were cancelled at Kanpur Central railway station. Several counters were set up to process refunds, deputy chief traffic manager Anshul Govil said.
The Varanasi unit of the Bhagat Singh Students Morcha of BHU demanded the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar and the scrapping of SIR. The group also created posters on this issue and pasted them on the outer campus walls and the Lanka area.
Speaking to media persons in Siddharthnagar, BJP MP Jagdambika Pal on Saturday accused the Opposition of politicising the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging that the protest in Delhi was an attempt to create disorder and inconvenience for the public.
“An attempt is being made to create anarchy,” Pal said.