New Delhi authorities have closed Central Park for two days ahead of a planned march by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over a disputed voter-roll revision, as a massive security deployment locked down Connaught Place on Friday.
Park closed, heavy security deployed
The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) announced late Thursday that Central Park would stay closed on October 16 and 17 for what it called "administrative" reasons. The order came hours after CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke called supporters to gather at the park at 5 p.m. Friday for a "Lehra Do Tiranga" (Wave the Tricolour) march, after his colleagues were jailed for waving the national flag at Jantar Mantar.
Delhi Police have barred public gatherings around Connaught Place with prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita in force. Police spokesperson Neha Yadav said permission had not been granted, though police indicated a small number of people could be allowed to gather at a "suitable place". More than 6,000 Delhi Police personnel and 220 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces were deployed across central Delhi, with yellow metal barricades at key intersections and additional CCTV cameras around Central Park.
The protests and the allegations
The demonstrations centre on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, overseen by the Election Commission of India under Gyanesh Kumar. Critics allege the revision has wrongly struck huge numbers of names from the rolls, with some media reports putting the figure above 130 million. The CJP and opposition parties accuse the poll body of tilting the exercise in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The Election Commission of India has denied any wrongdoing.
Dipke has sharpened the attack. At a press conference on October 15 with actor Prakash Raj and lawyer Prashant Bhushan, he alleged the removal of over 130 million voters, questioning the 2024 election outcome. "Why are you so afraid of cockroaches?" he said Thursday, adding: "if waving the Indian national flag lands you in jail, we are ready." The campaign intensified after CJP colleagues Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained for breaching barricades at Jantar Mantar to wave the flag. Police accused them of trespassing after the site's protest authorisation was withdrawn, and a court sent both to five days of judicial custody.
Courts, traders and political reactions
On Friday the Supreme Court declined an urgent hearing on a plea against the NDMC order. A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said it hoped "better sense will prevail" among all concerned, observing that "Someone wants to protest, someone wants to sell 'mungfali', someone wants law and order. All these are related." The court said it could exercise its constitutional powers if business losses resulted, and the plea may be listed on October 26 or 27 after the Dussehra vacation. Traders' associations had warned the march and shutdown could hurt business during the festival season.
Union ministers Arjun Ram Meghwal and Giriraj Singh accused the opposition and Rahul Gandhi of trying to cause unrest, foster chaos and stall development. On the other side, AAP leader Gopal Rai backed the CJP's Tiranga campaign and student groups held a parallel protest in Chennai, while Mumbai police granted the CJP permission for a "Lehra Do Tiranga" rally at Azad Maidan.
Watch: Delhi barricades Connaught Place ahead of CJP's Tiranga march (NDTV video report, October 16, 2026).
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Volatile Reaction (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
The CJP has vowed to march despite the barricades and the denied permission, Delhi Police has vowed to enforce its orders, and the Supreme Court has told both sides to let reason prevail. Whatever happens in Connaught Place on Friday evening, the row over India's voter rolls, and over where citizens may wave their flag, will run well past the festival season.
Sources: Malay Mail, Dawn, The Hindu (live updates), Hindustan Times (live updates).