Morning shows day as citizens show bravado to defeat Delhi Police’s efforts to stop ‘Jantar Mantar 2.0’

The tension was palpable at Hazrat Nizamuddin station before dawn in Delhi on Saturday (October 10, 2026) as porters and taxi drivers scrambled for work, aware of the jobs they would lose later in the day after the government canceled dozens of trains. But at rest stops and parking lots, workers had one eye on their smartphones as he whispered around – “the public has woken up now”, “looks like the police are going to beat up the protesters” and “all eyes are on Jantar Mantar now”.

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Temperamental individuals

Geetika, a 25-year-old software engineer, quietly left her home in Faridabad before 5am, careful not to wake her mother, and booked a taxi from Jantar Mantar; 63-year-old Shaheena and her 36-year-old daughter Sabika Muzaffar drove from their Gurugram home with a handmade poster hidden in a black map holder; and students from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) found their way out of the campus in the dead of night, laptops in hand, to camouflage themselves among the mob of journalists and press persons they knew would gather outside the Jantar Mantar protest site.

Ruma Saikia, who traveled to Delhi from Assam, tried to reach Delhi from 6am but could not, even as citizens like 19-year-old college student Jiya spent the night in a car with her mother in the parking lot outside Bangla Sahib Gurudwara, hoping to demonstrate on Saturday (October 10) morning.

Even as armed Border Security Force (BSF) arrived at Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station before nightfall to monitor alighting passengers, Delhi Police cordoned off the entire New Delhi, especially the designated protest site in the heart of the capital, to prevent ‘Jantar Mantar 2.0’, a protest called by youth organisations, seeking the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner over alleged intensive vote theft by SIR Gyanesh Kumar.

At 9am, Geetika, Shaheena and Sabika were detained and put on buses, some after holding the placard for 15 minutes, while others started talking to the press about why they felt they had to be there.

Sporadic in the morning

While the deployment of Delhi Police security personnel across the city made citizens like Geetika feel the need to protest more vigorously, sporadic protests in the early hours of Saturday (October 10) wherever they happened to be, unfurling their placards, raising slogans and pleading for detention just by smiling as they boarded buses, set the tone for how the day unfolded in several parts of Delhi.

As news of the arrest of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Abhijit Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka spread, the Delhi Police managed to prevent any protester from entering the Jantar Mantar protest site during Saturday (October 10), but the protesters themselves began to disperse and demonstrate where they could, for a few seconds before being detained by the police.

Even as these demonstrations began to spread, senior Delhi Police officials were seen holding large-scale meetings with security personnel on how to handle protesters at places such as the Jantar Mantar Road-Ashoka Road roundabout and the Windsor Place roundabout. Security personnel listened intently, tear gas munitions slung over their shoulders and drones flying overhead as senior officers explained that the use of force should be a “last resort”.

Noted economist, social scientist and activist Jean Dreze stood at one entrance to the protest site from 7.30am with a group of JNU students affiliated with the Left-wing Students Federation of India (SFI) before the group suddenly unfurled protest banners in front of security personnel a few hours later and were led away. The banners called for the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar and the cancellation of the ECI-led SIR exercise.

Intense confrontation

At the same time, a group of SFI student leaders, led by former JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh, started a march calling for the resignation of the CEC two kilometers away at the Gol Dak Khana roundabout before being chased and dragged away by security forces, only for the protesters who followed them to either run to the nearby Bangla Sahib Gurudwara for cover or regroup in nearby streets to take refuge.

Demonstrators arrived by walking for miles, taking public transport and hitchhiking, wearing shin guards and elbow pads under their clothes, even as some of the agitators tricked security forces into detaining them on buses and shouted slogans calling for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resignation through the bus windows. “Tanashahi nahi chalegi”, “SIR radd karo” and “Gyanesh Kumar istifa do” were among the slogans echoed along this stretch of Ashoka Road from time to time.

Some protesters, even though they were arrested, urged the police to give them a few moments to shoot video or speak to the media. Several asked journalists to record their reports before being escorted into detention vehicles.

A cat and mouse chase

The standoff repeatedly spilled into the street as protesters emerged from the gurdwara with banners and placards and attempted to resume their demonstration. The police moved in almost immediately, detaining several people and loading them into private buses that were used as detention vehicles. As the confrontation continued, additional personnel, including RAF and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) units, were deployed along the stretch.

The scene soon turned into a cat-and-mouse chase, with young protesters regrouping in the streets before retreating to a gurdwara to avoid arrest. Every time a group appeared to raise slogans or attempt a short march, the police chased them and detained several protesters.

By late afternoon, the handbook was circulated to disperse protesters and demonstrations wherever they congregated. All India Students’ Association (AISA) leader Neha Bora appeared with activists, including Yogendra Yadav and senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, to lead a march to Jantar Mantar from the AIIMS area, where Ms. Bora’s detention led to further sporadic protests at the Safdarjung flyover, although more agitators were seen such as the Bharatiya Party Day headquarters in Upadhyay Marg and around Connaught Place, there are also reports of police use of force.

Published – 10 Oct 2026 22:01 IST