Politics

CJP Urges Delhi Supporters to Stay Put Ahead of Planned Jantar Mantar Protest

By Livemint

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has asked its supporters who are currently in Delhi to remain in the capital, warning that another call for action is forthcoming. The message was posted on Sunday after police detained thousands of protesters attempting to reach Jantar Mantar for a demonstration demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. In the post, the party wrote: “Cockroach Janta Party Important: All Cockroaches currently in Delhi should stay back. Next call on its way! 😎 For Cockroaches outside Delhi, the trains are running again 😉.” The CJP is preparing for another demonstration at the protest site at 10 a.m. on Sunday, following Saturday’s police crackdown that prevented supporters from gathering at Jantar Mantar. The party and opposition parties have been demanding Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in the Election Commission’s functioning and the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Police detained CJP leaders and thousands of protesters as they tried to reach the planned Jantar Mantar demonstration. Police cited preventive action and security arrangements; the CJP protest was held without permission, according to related reports. The three leaders were released after furnishing a ₹50,000 surety bond to maintain peace and good behaviour for one year. Dipke said he had not signed a bond preventing further protests and vowed to return to the streets to demand Gyanesh Kumar’s removal. The CJP called for another demonstration at Jantar Mantar after police stopped supporters from assembling there. More than 30,000 police and paramilitary personnel were deployed across Delhi as part of the security arrangements. On Saturday, CJP leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained amid the security clampdown. More than 7,000 protesters were detained at several locations as police prevented them from reaching the protest site. Several opposition leaders, including former chief ministers Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee, Pinarayi Vijayan and Manik Sarkar, were also detained while attempting to join the demonstration. The CJP and opposition parties have been demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, citing alleged irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Meanwhile, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke on Sunday said he had not signed any bond preventing him or other party leaders from staging further demonstrations. He also vowed to return to the streets to demand Kumar's removal. His statement followed remarks by CJP legal affairs head Ratna Singh, who said Dipke, Ranka and Das had been released on the condition that they would not “breach peace” for a year. The three leaders had been placed under preventive arrest at the Delhi airport ahead of the Jantar Mantar protest. “I have not signed any bond. We will take to the streets again; we won’t be afraid of people like Amit Shah and PM Modi. Put me in jail once, a hundred times. We are not afraid of your dictatorship; we will end your dictatorship,” Dipke told reporters at Nagpur airport. He was travelling to Hingoli in Maharashtra to attend the last rites of his grandmother. The dispute over the alleged bond came amid a separate controversy over whether Dipke had been informed of his grandmother’s death while in custody on October 10. Delhi Police released a video after the CJP alleged that its founder had not been informed about the death. The footage came after Dipke’s mother accused the police of lying and claimed her son had not been told about the loss on Saturday. The police said the news had been conveyed with due sensitivity and that assistance had been offered to help Dipke travel to his hometown for the funeral. According to the police, he “declined” the offer. Several videos purportedly showing copies of the bond have also circulated online, adding to the dispute over the conditions under which the CJP leaders were released. Dipke also questioned the decision to detain the party’s leaders before the planned demonstration, challenging the authorities over the preventive action. “We were arrested on a plane? Are we terrorists?” he said, adding that PM Narendra Modi is a dictator, and his dictatorship must be ended.