New Delhi: Opposition leaders from the INDIA bloc gathered in the national capital following new notifications restricting protests at Jantar Mantar. Key figures, including Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Mahua Moitra, and Abhishek Banerjee, arrived at the Constitution Club to voice their demands and organise a march toward the Supreme Court of India to submit a petition.
Simultaneously, heavy demonstrations were witnessed outside Himachal Bhavan, where thousands of party workers gathered, climbed barricades, and attempted to march toward the Supreme Court while raising slogans against the central government and the Chief Election Commissioner. A heavy police deployment was put in place to manage the massive crowds as flash protests spread across parts of New Delhi.
Delhi Police officially de-notified Jantar Mantar as a designated protest venue, leaving no officially permitted dharna site within the New Delhi district and the Lutyens zone. The decision arrived after leaders sought permission to stage a sit-in, with authorities citing law and order considerations and imposing Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. The administration instead designated three alternative venues for demonstrations: Ramlila Maidan in Central Delhi, Burari in Outer Delhi, and the CBD ground in East Delhi.
High political drama unfolded as INDIA bloc parliamentarians planned their move to seek an audience with the Chief Justice of India and file a petition after previous approaches to other institutions and protest requests were turned down. In response to the planned march, massive deployments of Delhi Police and paramilitary personnel, including the Central Reserve Police Force and Indo-Tibetan Border Police, were positioned across Rafi Marg and Barakhamba Road with multi-layer barricades to prevent the groups from advancing.
Amid these developments, opposing demonstrations also took place as Bharatiya Janata Party workers and Mahila Morcha members staged protests outside the Congress headquarters on Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg. BJP demonstrators burnt effigies and demanded accountability and the resignation of a Congress parliamentarian following allegations linked to a sexual harassment complaint from a university tenure, as security personnel restricted gathering movements across central Delhi.