The tussle over the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has moved from the Election Commission’s files to the streets of Delhi, with Jantar Mantar heavily barricaded on Friday as activists, students and politicians sought to protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.The development assumes significance because the latest agitation comes days after the Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners — Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi — had formally raised objections on several occasions over voter registration, deletion and restoration of names and the functioning of the poll panel’s electoral-roll technology.On Friday, the police action effectively turned the designated protest zone into a security cordon. While the NSUI activists’ march towards the Election Commission office was thwarted by the police, Left leaders and other protesters were stopped behind barricades.CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya and activist Yogendra Yadav among others were reportedly detained. AISA national chief Neha was also among those detained from Jantar Mantar.The immediate trigger is the demand for Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, but the confrontation goes beyond one office-holder.The reported objections inside the three-member Commission have put the spotlight on a fundamental question of who ultimately controls decisions affecting a citizen’s entry into, removal from or restoration on the electoral roll. Concerns over centralised control of electoral-roll data and instances where officials’ decisions could not be recorded through the software.That makes the Delhi Police response politically significant as well as operationally sensitive. The street protest is now testing the space available for citizens, civil-society groups and political organisations to challenge an electoral process whose legality and internal decision-making are themselves under public scrutiny.The controversy intensified after the CJP demanded Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation within 48 hours and threatened a nationwide agitation and a fresh Jantar Mantar mobilisation if he did not step down.