Rahul Gandhi leads INDIA Bloc march over SIR, seeks CEC Gyanesh Kumar's exit

Bengaluru police denied permission for a CJP protest at Town Hall, later allowing a 100-metre march with the national flag under strict conditions prohibiting slogans, protests, and placards. Demonstrations remain restricted to Freedom Park. Meanwhile, the BJP criticised the Karnataka government, noting that while Congress leaders took part in demonstrations in Delhi, protest permissions were curtailed back home in Bengaluru. The opposition targeted the ruling party over its stance on public demonstrations.

Delhi witnessed heavy police deployment and preventive detentions as protesters attempted to stage demonstrations linked to the CJP Tiranga Yatra across Connaught Place, Mandi House, and Jantar Mantar. Prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita were enforced in central Delhi to prevent large congregations. Multiple student leaders and activists, including Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora, and Dipankar Bhattacharya, were taken into custody. Unlike previous closures, traffic movement and metro stations remained operational to avoid disruption to daily commuters, while barricades sealed off Central Park and inner circle access. Left-wing student groups from AISF and other outfits gathered near barricaded points at Jantar Mantar carrying national flags and raising slogans. Meanwhile, in Bengaluru, police denied initial protest permissions at Town Hall but permitted a limited hundred-metre march with the tricolour under strict conditions prohibiting slogans, placards, and demonstrations.

Delhi Police placed Cockroach Janta Party leader Abhijeet Dipke into preventive custody outside his New Delhi residence ahead of his planned 'Lehra Do Tiranga' demonstration at Central Park in Connaught Place.

Speaking amid rival demonstrations in central Delhi's Connaught Place, BJP leader Rajnath Singh targeted opponents over demands for regime change. He stated that terms like 'regime change' demonstrate the ongoing stir is not about electoral reforms, the Election Commission of India, Gyanesh Kumar, or the future of youth, alleging instead that it is a conspiracy to capture power by spreading anarchy across the country. He added that democratic discourse falls prey to prejudice and propaganda when political self-interest takes precedence over truth and national interest.