Jantar Mantar Protest Today: Metro, Traffic and What to Expect

Last updated: 5 October 2026, 1:30 PM IST. This page covers a temporary situation and will change.

Protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar have been going on at Jantar Mantar since 2 October 2026, over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The approaches to the protest ground are heavily barricaded, according to The Tribune's 5 October report. District-wide restrictions and the separate requirement for protest permission are explained below. If you have to be in central Delhi, leave extra time.

What has happened so far#

• 2 October: The protest was called at Jantar Mantar. DMRC closed entry and exit at 12 central stations and reopened all of them that night (Tribune).
• 3 October: More than 700 protesters were reported detained, including AAP leaders Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj (Outlook).
• 4 October: More than 120 people were briefly detained. Police said no permission had been given and deployed about 5,000 personnel (Hindustan Times). Numbers differ between outlets.
• 10 October: The Cockroach Janta Party has called a larger demonstration. We will cover it here once DMRC or police announce anything.

Metro#

On 2 October the closed stations were Janpath, Patel Chowk, Central Secretariat, Rajiv Chowk, Barakhamba Road, Seva Teerth, Mandi House, Lok Kalyan Marg, INA, Chawri Bazar, Ramakrishna Ashram Marg and New Delhi. Outlook reported all stations back in service on 3 October. We found no official closure notice for 5 October, but we could not check DMRC's own channels directly. Check them before you leave. Full details: closed stations list.

Roads#

Delhi Traffic Police's advisory for 2 October, as reported by PTI, covered these roads:

• Connaught Place towards Patel Chowk: diverted.
• Patel Chowk towards GPO: regulated or diverted.
• Tolstoy Marg: regulated.
• Jantar Mantar Road: restricted.
• Parliament Street and Ashoka Road: avoid if possible.
• No stopping or parking on regulated stretches.

That was the protest advisory for 2 October, not a standing diversion plan. Separately, ET Now reports a Delhi Traffic Police advisory for VVIP movements on 5 October, from 9 AM to 2:40 PM, covering Janpath, Akbar Road, Mansingh Road, Sikandara Road, ITO and the Rajghat area. These are not protest-related metro closures. We could not inspect the advisory itself directly.

Is the monument open?#

We could not find an official notice. Heavy barricading has been reported (Hindustan Times). If you planned a visit, check first. Normal hours and tickets are in our timings and ticket guide.

What Section 163 means#

Section 163 orders restrict unauthorised gatherings in New Delhi district. In The Tribune's 5 October report, DCP Sachin Sharma says the Jantar Mantar protest site itself has been kept outside that district-wide restriction under a Supreme Court order. He also says a protest there still requires permission. Exemption from the district order does not mean permission to demonstrate. We have not inspected the police or court order directly.

Getting around#

• Check DMRC and Delhi Traffic Police on X before you leave.
• Get off at an open station and walk or take a cab. See what to do when a station is shut.
• Don't park on regulated roads.
• Follow police instructions.

FAQs#

Is Jantar Mantar closed today? No official notice found. The area is barricaded.

Are metro stations near Jantar Mantar closed? They were on 2 October and reopened that night. None found closed for 5 October.

Which roads are affected? The protest diversion list is dated 2 October. The separate 5 October VVIP advisory runs until 2:40 PM; check the latest traffic update before travelling.

What we don't know yet#

• Whether DMRC has closed any station today. We found no notice, but we could not read DMRC's own pages.
• Whether the monument itself is open to ticket-holders.
• What police or DMRC will announce for 10 October. Nothing official has been published that we could find.

If any of these gets an official answer, it goes at the top of this page with the time.

If you have to pass through central Delhi this week#

• Metro: plan a backup station before you leave. The four closest are Patel Chowk, Janpath, Central Secretariat and Rajiv Chowk, and all four were among the 12 shut on 2 October. See what to do when your station is closed.
• Road: the 2 October advisory named Connaught Place, Patel Chowk, GPO, Tolstoy Marg, Jantar Mantar Road, Parliament Street and Ashoka Road. If your route uses any of these, add time.
• On foot: barricades are reported on the approaches to the protest ground, so a short walk may need a detour.
• Visiting the monument: wait for a confirmed notice, or call ahead. Hours and prices are in our timings guide.

How to read protest-day news#

Detention counts and crowd sizes differ between outlets, sometimes by a wide margin, and early reports are often revised. For travel decisions, what matters is narrower: a DMRC notice about named stations, a Delhi Traffic Police advisory about named roads, and a time. We cite those where we can find them, and say when we only have a newspaper's account of them.

How this page is updated#

We re-check news and official channels once a day and change the "last updated" time whenever we edit. Closure facts are only added when a source states them. When the protests end, we will say so here rather than quietly rewriting the page.

Sources and verification limits#

• The Tribune, 2 October: DMRC's station reopening statement.
• The Tribune, 5 October: barricading and the DCP's explanation of permission requirements.
• Hindustan Times, 5 October: protest developments and the 4 October police deployment.
• ET Now, 5 October: separate VVIP traffic advisory.

DMRC, Delhi Traffic Police and Delhi Police's X pages could not be read in this check. The station details are attributed news reports of official announcements, not a live service-status guarantee. Earlier timeline items were reported by Outlook and PTI via ThePrint.