Indian Railways cancelled trains to New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin stations on October 10.
The cancellations come amid the protest call by the opposition parties against Election Commission.
Police warned that all unauthorised public gatherings remain illegal under Section 163 restrictions.
Indian Railways has cancelled all the Mail and Express trains that were scheduled to reach New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin railway stations between 4 am and 2 pm on October 10. The trains have been cancelled ahead of the Cockroach Janata Party’s (CJP) protest call on October 10 against alleged irregularities in the Election Commission.
The railways cited the possibility of severe road traffic congestion around the two stations.
An order released by the Railway Department's Coaching Directorate on October 9, trains departing from their originating stations after 2 pm on Friday and scheduled to reach either Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station or New Delhi station between 4 am and 2 pm on Saturday will be cancelled and will not leave the source station.
It added that the passengers who are planning to travel to these stations on October 10 must check the status of their train and cancellation updates.
CJP has given a call for protests in the national capital on October 10. The major demand of the protesters is that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar step down over the alleged misuse of the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The CJP has also demanded changes to the electoral process.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner of Police Shrishti Pandey has warned that protests will not be allowed anywhere, including Jantar Mantar, while restrictions remain in force. She said police would take legal action against any unauthorised gathering while the curbs stay in place.
In her brief, she said, “Section 163 is in effect, meaning protests are not permitted — neither at Jantar Mantar nor anywhere else. Any gathering will be considered illegal, and we would be compelled to take necessary legal action against it.”
Earlier, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, along with leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), protested against alleged “vote chori” and demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on October 8.
The opposition has been protesting against Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of benefiting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Rahul Gandhi was arrested 3 times in the span of 2 days.
There have been questions over the conduct of the Election Commission after a report from the Indian Express revealed that there were major disagreements among the election commissioners over the SIR process.
In response to the report, the Election Commission has defended the SIR process; however, the commission did not deny the reported disagreements between commissioners. EC has rejected suggestions of a serious internal rupture, arguing that differences of opinion were part of normal deliberations.
