New Delhi: The Delhi Police has issued a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to the Congress to hold a rally at the Ramlila Maidan.
Rohit Rajbir Singh, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Central, told ANI that the ground will be booked from October 25 to November 3.
Ramlila Maidan is among the three designated protest sites in Delhi after the police de-notified Jantar Mantar due to its proximity to the central business district.
Apart from Ramlila Maidan, protests can be organised at the Burari Ground and CBD Ground in East Delhi.
The Congress first asked the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) about availability, which said the ground would be free from October 25 to November 3, the DCP said.
“The MCD stated that the venue would be available from October 25 to November 3. After receiving the venue availability certificate, the Congress party approached us,” he said.
“After interacting with them and understanding the security arrangements required, we decided to grant them the No Objection Certificate (NOC). We issued it today. They will now take the certificate back to the MCD, which is the owning agency responsible for the land, and then begin their preparations. The ground will be booked from October 25 to November 3,” Singh added.
Any other stakeholder or organiser wanting to book the ground may also follow the same process, he further said.
The Congress and its INDI bloc allies have been demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar for alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Review (SIR) of voter rolls.
Several organisations, such as the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and students’ bodies have also joined the protests.
CJP activists Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained on October 10 and later released after being produced before the Executive Magistrate on October 11.
Das, Ranka and others were later arrested for attempting to enter the Jantar Mantar protest site after it was de-notified. They are now in judicial custody.
Dipke was also detained on Friday while trying to the reach the Central Park at Connaught Place for a protest. He was produced before a magistrate on Saturday and granted conditional bail.