Security heightened outside CEC house

Security outside Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar’s residence in New Moti Bagh has been stepped up after fresh threat inputs and a sharp escalation in protests by the INDIA bloc over the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The CEC already enjoys Z-plus cover, the second-highest civilian security category in the country after the Special Protection Group protection extended to the Prime Minister and his immediate family. Officials said the category already involves roughly fifty personnel working in shifts, with layered arrangements for the protectee’s residence, movement and cavalcade.

In the latest review, additional police and Central Industrial Security Force personnel have been placed outside the house, at Nirvachan Sadan on Ashoka Road, and with his personal security detail. The CISF reinforcement of “additional reserve” strength was ordered on October 7.

Local district police have also been told to increase deployment and coordinate with other agencies to prevent any untoward incident as protests continue in the New Delhi district. A senior police officer said the decision followed a new threat assessment. Protesters found Kumar’s home in New Moti Bagh colony, and some tried to enter the area and approach the house.

Security pickets were set up nearby. In a separate incident, protesters demonstrated outside his family’s home in Agra. Security staff in the colony confirmed that more paramilitary personnel were stationed inside the complex because of the protests.

Delhi Police officials said CEC has had Z-plus security for some time, and the latest move only strengthens this arrangement instead of changing his security category. With this cover, over fifty officers from central armed police forces and Delhi Police are on duty.

He also has personal security officers, watchers, and close-protection teams working around the clock. The extra security comes as Opposition parties step up their campaign for the CEC’s resignation. INDIA bloc leaders, led by Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi, have accused the Commission of irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and of favouring the Government.

Senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, along with leaders from the Samajwadi Party and Trinamool Congress, have also called for the CEC’s removal. On October 6, Opposition leaders marched to the Election Commission headquarters, but police stopped them and detained several people.

Later, more attempts to reach protest sites, including Jantar Mantar, led to more detentions before the leaders were released. On October 5, authorities deployed about 5,000 security personnel for separate protests in the capital, and over 120 protesters were briefly detained.

The protests have spread beyond Delhi. Earlier, Youth Congress workers spray-painted slogans on the gate and walls of the family’s Agra home, calling the Chief Election Commissioner a “traitor” and a “vote thief.”

Student and youth groups have held sit-ins and torchlight marches in several cities, and a larger Opposition protest is planned for October 10. Police and intelligence agencies have been told to monitor the situation closely.

The political dispute over the revision process has continued for weeks. Opposition parties claim there have been large-scale deletions and a lack of transparency.

The Commission says that any differences among Election Commissioners during internal talks do not change the fact that final decisions, including those on the revision, were unanimous. The Supreme Court has sent a notice to the Commission and the Centre about a plea questioning some decisions linked to the CEC.

For security officials, the main concern is more focused. They said that street protests, protesters finding a protected residence, and attempted vandalism at the family’s Agra home made it necessary to increase visible security, even though Z-plus protection was already in place. The Commission has strengthened coordination between the CISF, Delhi Police, and other central forces at the residence, the Commission headquarters, and along CEC’s travel routes, the sources added.