FRAGRANCE OF IDEAS
With the onset of the month of October 2026, there was once again a campaign of street protests, unauthorised gatherings disrupting the normal routine of life and social media-based noise trying to hoodwink the opinion of the general masses seen in a few cities and towns of the country. Their main focus was on the capital of the country -New Delhi. Some other cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai were also affected marginally. The main issue this time was the so-called resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner, Gaynesh Kumar, for his organisation’s nationwide work on Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls (SIR).
The primary organisers this time were parties and forums like Congress, AAP and CJP. Having failed to achieve anything tangible in political terms after the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, the then Minister for HRD, in July 2026, all such elements made it sure that more and more chaos, confusion and an environment of political abuse and hatred against the people in power at the Centre and the institutions established by the Constitution and law are made as the new rules of the game. They do so to create a perpetual atmosphere of violence, law and order and anarchy throughout the length and breadth of the country, irrespective of its negative impact on the economic growth, peace, progress and the status of the country among the comity of nations. And they do it brazenly in the name of ‘saving the constitution’.
Earlier in the month of June and July this year, their main agenda was the paper-leak, NEET examination reforms and the resignation of the HRD Minister. The way the organisers, and mainly the newly formed Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) was provided ‘accommodation’ by the government in regard to the holding of their protest and other allied activities surely gave the organisers a claim of victory. The 20th July unauthorised rally at and outside the Jantar-Mantar, followed by violence and arson in Delhi, brought several facts to light and gave a real and befitting introduction of the organisers -CJP to the public at large. Their real faces were unmasked consequent upon the unfortunate events of 20th July, which in a way dashed their moral standing in the eyes of the countrymen.
The CJP, after the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, began a campaign of ‘school reforms’ and started making their trips to various government schools without any proper permission from the authorities. However, they chose to keep their campaign limited to the BJP-NDA-ruled states and didn’t venture to go beyond that. Opposition-ruled states were exempted from such atrocious campaigns, which angered the people concerned. Thus, they received a lukewarm response to their campaign, and at several places, the people started to oppose their entry into their villages and surroundings. They received tough opposition even in public parks and grounds in sub-urban areas at several places.
It was in the month of September, 2026 that the CJP announced to go for one more protest demonstration on 10 October, 2026 at Jantar-Mantar, New Delhi to press for the resignation of the CEC, Gyanesh Kumar. Now, they converted their movement into a full-fledged politically oriented agitation. Armed and alarmed both by their announcement, the Congress party, which believed that the resignation of the CEC was their exclusive agenda supported by a few other parties, counter-announced their own plan to organise their protests on the same issue. The Congress held its nationwide protests, with a focus in Delhi, to march towards the CEC’s office on 25th September 2026 to exert pressure for the resignation of the CEC on their invented flimsy grounds.
The Congress agitators faced police barricades at the BJP headquarters and the Nirvachan Sadan in Delhi. In order to build a false narrative on the issue, some other protests by opposition groups and individuals were also organised on 3 and 6 October, 2026, in which the police detained some demonstrators for protesting without permission at Jantar-Mantar. On 6 October, senior leaders of the opposition INDI alliance, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Akhilesh Yadav, staged a march to the Election Commission office and were blocked by police barricades near the Election Commission headquarters. The leaders, without any permission, instead gate-crashed the adjacent Akashwani Bhavan premises and again staged a two-hour sit-in protest there. Several leaders were detained and released later.
The government and the administration this time took extra and exclusive measures unlike July 20, 2026 and didn’t grant any permission for any sort of assembly at Jantar-Mantar. All precautions were made to maintain public order. Authorities enforced a massive security lockdown in central Delhi to foil any rally planned by the CJP. The CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and other senior organisers of CJP were detained immediately upon landing at the Delhi airport.
The other passengers in the flight also rebuked the CJP leaders for their conduct. On the other hand, the police sealed off Jantar Mantar, closed 45 metro stations, cancelled incoming trains, and detained over 2,000 people to prevent any unauthorised assembly in the capital. Though there were some provocations that could escalate the situation and create violence, arson and law-and-order situations bigger than on 20 July, 2026, but the police administration remained alert and vigilant to foil all such designs.
This time, only a few hundreds of people gathered on the roads surrounding Jantar-Mantar who were not allowed to enter the debarred venue. Criminals and history-sheeters were also not allowed to enter the crowd of protesters. Then people opposed to such protests and agitations also joined the crowd and raised slogans in favour of the police and the government headed by PM Narendra Modi. The regular media and the social media was also seen divided this time, putting before their respective viewpoints while covering the protests. In nutshell, the protests failed and couldn’t achieve anything tangible to show. The top three detained CJP leaders were released by the magistrate only on the production of a peace-bond with the condition that they wouldn’t do anything to disturb peace and tranquillity for one year, in addition to surety.
In the meantime, the statements, overtures and conduct of the leaders and the prominent activists of all these protests further clarified the intent and the ultimate motives of the organisers of all these protests. While some leaders on the front said that they stand inspired by the Bangladesh events of regime change there and would be thankful to them for showing them the way, others attacked all constitutional institutions and authorities and also talked in terms of revolution, including a bloodbath. People in general ignored the appeals and repeated requests by the organisers from Congress, AAP and CJP to reach Delhi in lakhs to join their planned activities against the CEC and the government.
On 12 October 2026, Rahul Gandhi and other leaders of Congress, along with a few thousand of their activists, defied the prohibitory orders and marched towards the Supreme Court of India and tried to make the Apex Court a party to their political agitation. The Supreme Court of India last year upheld the decision of the EC to conduct SIR at the national level and also said they have the constitutional sanction to do their duties. On the issue of fresh requests from the opposition for an intervention, the CJI declined a direct meeting with the political delegation, and instead the court asked them to file their appeal with the Court for hearing. This brazen attempt to involve the Apex Court in such a political event was done for the first time in such a manner.
The government on the recommendations of the committee set up earlier to the effect cancelled Jantar-Mantar for any future protests and notified three other venues for any sort of protests including the Ramlila Maidan. It was welcomed by most people as it wouldn’t cause inconvenience to the general public in future. On 16 October, 2026, the CJP attempted another march at Connaught Place, New Delhi. The government took the attempt very seriously in view of the importance of Connaught Place being the centre of activity, particularly during the festive season.
Security personnel locked down Central Park and enforced Section 163 of the BNSS. CJP leaders Abhijeet Dipke and Neha Bora were taken into preventive custody prior to the event, leading to scattered flop protests and standoffs between the activists and counter-protesters who opposed any such programme in the vicinity. Dipke once again submitted another bond before the magistrate to desist from any activity for one year causing damage to peace and public order. His two other colleagues were put in the police remand for five days for breaking prohibitory orders at Jantar-Mantar by the Special Executive Magistrate.
The Congress as a follow-up has asked for permission for a protest rally at Ramlila Maidan from October 25 to November 3, 2026 which the administration in Delhi has granted to them. Some other Andolan-Jeevis have also announced their march scheduled for October 23, 2026. A Sanyukt Kisan Morcha organised Delhi Chalo march is also on cards the same day. For the last 10 years, all these parties, forums and individuals who have been losing the elections consistently and continuously are having only one target in mind. That is to topple a duly elected government at the centre headed by Modi. Their frustration has led them to a situation to speak lies about the SIR conducted by the EC and have further lost their space in the minds of the people.
Fake earlier narratives like ‘Chowkidar chor hai’, ‘vote-chori’, ‘EVM frauds’, ‘vote chor-gaddi chod’ etc have already drawn flak and public has not been convinced with these slogans at all excepting the usual activists of the respective parties. Rahul Gandhi’s campaigns, slogans, marches, unauthorised gate-crashings and other such irresponsible behavior in public have also been a cause of bringing further disrepute to the opposition and particularly the Congress. Entry and involvement of foreign elements and funds in such protests and demonstrations against the PM, HM, CEC and the government are an open secret. Rahul Gandhi’s pronouncements on different podiums that the real targets are the PM and the HM, and CEC is only a beginning are also stunning. Those who are advocating their cause have also been advocating regime change on the pattern of situations in Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal and other places where democratically elected governments were thrown through anarchy, violent unrest and foreign intervention.
The government and the administration in India seem to have learnt lessons about these anarchists who are hell-bent on trampling the peace and progress of the country. What they are unable to achieve through a democratic process and constitutional means, they want to do it with unfair and unconstitutional ways on the streets and don’t feel shy about the way their intent and conduct are causing damage to the country. People have seen through their motives and have also generally kept themselves aloof from such activities and useless agitations. It is time for the Congress, AAP and the INDI-alliance, and also the CJP, to introspect and have a deep evaluation of their flop shows throughout, along with the growing public anger against them.
(The author is a senior BJP & KP leader, Human Rights Defender and a columnist and can be reached at: [email protected])
