India, Oct. 11 -- The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), under Amit Shah, mounted an extensive preventive operation to ensure that the Cockroach Janata Party's (CJP's) proposed protest at Jantar Mantar to seek the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Saturday did not acquire the scale and organisational momentum of the July agitation, which had put the government under pressure and culminated in the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

The operation involved advance intelligence gathering, coordination with police forces in neighbouring states, surveillance of entry points into Delhi, restrictions on accommodation for potential protesters and preparations for mass preventive detentions. The stra...