Indian authorities shut dozens of Delhi Metro stations and cancelled trains into the capital’s main railway hubs on Friday, one day before a planned demonstration over voter-list revisions that opposition parties say could disenfranchise millions.
Delhi Police refused permission for the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) to gather at Jantar Mantar on Saturday, citing what it said were breaches of conditions from an earlier protest. Organisers allied with the INDIA bloc are demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which the government defends as a cleanup of duplicate entries.
Transport clampdown
Indian Railways said all mail and express trains scheduled to arrive at New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin stations between 4 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday would be cancelled, citing expected road congestion. Some long-distance services departing other cities on Friday were also pulled from the timetable so they would not reach the capital during the window.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation was asked to close 57 stations from 9 p.m. Friday until conditions normalise—far more than the 16 stations shut during a July CJP protest. Hotels and guest houses in central Delhi were told to restrict new bookings, and police said more than 20,000 personnel, including paramilitary units, would enforce a 37-point security plan across the city centre.
Authorities portrayed the measures as preventive. Protest leaders, including Congress figures, said the city was being sealed to choke peaceful dissent.
Supreme Court pushback
The scale of the shutdown drew an unusual oral intervention from the Supreme Court on Friday. Responding to a mention by senior advocates, Justice Surya Kant said the right to associate and protest peacefully is fundamental, while asking whether metro closures and train cancellations were disproportionate to the security task.
Justice Rajesh Bagchi noted that organisers must still seek lawful permission; without it, a march could be illegal. The bench sought details from Delhi Police on what permission had been granted or denied for Saturday. Separately, CPI(M) leader M.A. Baby and Youth Congress litigants have approached courts arguing that cancelling trains and closing guest houses infringes commuters’ rights.
Political stakes
INDIA bloc lawmakers marched toward Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday evening to press President Droupadi Murmu on Kumar’s tenure, after complaining that requests for an appointment went unanswered. Rahul Gandhi told reporters the opposition would not stop its campaign over the SIR exercise, which has triggered sit-ins and clashes with police in recent weeks.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party says the revision is technical and necessary; critics call it a pre-election purge targeting Muslim and migrant voters. Saturday’s rally is the next test of whether organisers can bring crowds into a capital that officials have effectively cordoned off.
Delhi Police said they would review the situation hourly. Metro officials did not say when the 57 stations might reopen if Saturday passes without major disorder.