Delhi is bracing for the Cockroach Janta Party’s October 10 protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, with tens of thousands of security personnel, prohibitory orders and a liquor shop closure on October 9 and 10.
The preparations are layered. Barricades and checks are planned at the borders, railway stations and bus terminals, facial recognition cameras are to be installed, and police could close Metro stations and markets in the New Delhi area if needed.
The numbers are attributed and vary. Outlook reported about 23,000 CAPF personnel and about 20,000 Delhi Police personnel, and other reports gave totals from more than 20,000 to about 43,000.
The legal position is unsettled. Police have not granted permission, and the CJP spokesperson said the party would inform police and cooperate on security and traffic.
The context is the Special Intensive Revision. On October 6, INDIA bloc MPs marched on the Election Commission with the same demand, and Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait announced support for the October 10 protest, according to ETV Bharat.
About 20,000 Delhi Police personnel will also be deployed, according to sources cited by Outlook.
Reports gave different totals for the deployment, from more than 20,000 to about 43,000, so this report gives the figures as attributed.
For comparison, about 150 CAPF companies were deployed for the CJP’s July protest at Jantar Mantar, according to Outlook.
Officials plan multi-layered barricades and strict surveillance at Delhi’s borders, railway stations and bus terminals.
CCTV feeds will be monitored from a control room, and facial recognition cameras are to be installed across the capital.
Police could close all Metro stations in the New Delhi area and shut markets if needed, according to the reports.
Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, which lets executive magistrates issue urgent public-order orders, will be in force, according to sources cited by Outlook.
Connaught Place, New Delhi (file image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0