Police in central Delhi stopped a march against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls on Friday, October 23, 2026, detaining participants as they tried to move toward the Election Commission of India (ECI) headquarters. The demonstrators were protesting what they describe as the deletion of voters from the rolls, according to The Hindu.
The procession was organised by the Delhi Coordination Committee of People Against SIR, a people's collective, and began near Gole Dak Khana at the junction of Kalibari Marg and Bhai Vir Singh Marg. Officers detained protesters on Ashoka Road after warning them to leave the protest sites, The Hindu reported.
Why it matters
The march is part of a nationwide campaign demanding the removal and prosecution of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The dispute goes to the heart of how India's voter lists are compiled and who has a say in the process, and the day's events showed the tension between the right to assemble and police control over access to the country's election authority.
Detentions and a "People's Parliament"
When police blocked the marchers, they sat down and convened what organisers had billed as a "People's Parliament," according to The Hindu. One participant framed the gathering in broad terms, saying the issue was not about reclaiming a protest site but about protecting democracy and the country.
Security had been tightened around Bangla Sahib Gurudwara before the march, with Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force personnel deployed in large numbers. The organisers had urged farmers, workers, youth, women and other sections of society to join while carrying the national flag.
Support came from several quarters. Krantikari Yuva Sangathan and the Students' Federation of India backed the protest, and activists from Delhi, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh took part, The Hindu reported.
Ahead of the event, Delhi Police issued a traffic advisory announcing diversions between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. near Bangla Sahib Gurudwara and Jantar Mantar.
Political pressure and a second CAPF extension
Senior CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat criticised the Modi government during the march. She called on it to commit to halting what she described as an attack on the right to vote and on the Constitution, to stop the SIR, and to secure Gyanesh Kumar's resignation, The Hindu reported.
The Union Home Ministry extended the deployment of 273 Central Armed Police Forces companies in the national capital until October 31, the second such extension, according to official sources cited by The Hindu. The companies were brought to Delhi earlier in the month for protests by the Cockroach Janta Party, and the extension was ordered over the possibility of "flash protests" by political and other groups.
Also on Friday, Cockroach Janta Party leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das appeared before a Special Executive Magistrate at Mandir Marg police station in connection with separate cases registered against them. Speaking to reporters afterwards, Ranka said the movement would carry on even if its leaders were jailed, describing them as caretakers of a platform given to them by the country's people. He said next steps would be announced once decided, PTI reported via The Hindu.
Das asserted that Gyanesh Kumar would have to resign. Ranka also said the pair were waiting to hear from the Crime Branch about a date to appear, having missed an earlier one after informing officials, and that they were awaiting confirmation of timing.
What to watch
Opposition parties are keeping up the pressure: the INDIA bloc plans a mock impeachment of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on October 28, with organisers still searching for a venue, The New Indian Express reported. Separately, farm organisations have written to the President demanding Kumar's resignation, according to The Hindu.
