Rival Marches, 10,000 Police: Delhi Prepares for INDIA Bloc and BJP Rallies

The Opposition INDIA bloc and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will hold separate marches in Delhi on Sunday, with nearly 10,000 police and paramilitary personnel deployed and traffic restrictions in parts of central Delhi.

The INDIA bloc's 'Chalo Delhi' march will begin at noon from the Minto Road-Connaught Place junction and end at Ramlila Maidan. Its MPs will assemble at the Constitution Club at 11 am. Opposition leaders expected to attend include Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Mamata Banerjee, Abhishek Banerjee, Hemant Soren, Revanth Reddy, Tejashwi Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav.

The bloc says the march is to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Posters have appeared outside Ramlila Maidan, and the Students' Federation of India has called for participation.

The rally follows an Opposition programme on Saturday at which Kharge moved a symbolic resolution containing six allegations against the CEC. The resolution accused Kumar of conspiring to influence elections, deleting 13.2 crore voters, changing Form 6 without parliamentary oversight and taking control of electoral rolls through ECINET. It also alleged that the two other election commissioners had been excluded from key decisions, referring to a newspaper report. The BJP has dismissed the exercise as 'melodrama'.

Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal, who announced the rally last month, called the campaign 'Chalo Dilli, Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao'. He alleged that 13 crore names had been deleted from electoral rolls and that there was 'massive fraud' in voter rolls in state after state. He said Rahul Gandhi was 'fearlessly raising questions' and holding those in power accountable.

The BJP will hold a separate march in west Delhi to remember those killed in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The party has accused the Congress of holding its rally on the anniversary of the violence. The BJP march will begin at 11.30 am from Hari Nagar bus depot and go to Tilak Nagar metro station. Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta are expected to participate.

Security has been tightened across central and New Delhi. More than 4,000 personnel will be stationed around Ramlila Maidan, along the route from Minto Bridge to the venue and in surrounding areas. Multi-layered barricading has been put in place around Connaught Place, Jantar Mantar, Bhagwan Das Road and areas near the Supreme Court and the Election Commission office.

Senior police officer Rohit Rajbir said the area was covered by 200 to 250 CCTV cameras. 'The organisers also have their own control room and we are working together to ensure the security of this entire area,' he said. Traffic is being regulated and diversions are being made in parts of central Delhi from 10 am to 5 pm. Commuters have been asked to plan their journeys in advance.

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) said it would not join the Sunday protest. Its founder Abhijeet Dipke met Mamata Banerjee in Delhi on Saturday and thanked her for supporting the outfit's youth-led protests. He said the CJP would retain its independent identity.