NEW DELHI: “It’s an open emergency, imposed to suppress the voice of the youth,” said CJP’s Saurav Das. Hours after their release from detention on Sunday, the CJP leaders, addressing a press conference in the Press Club of India, vowed to intensify their agitation against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, announcing plans to expand the protests nationwide.
They said that developments over the previous 72 hours had reminded people of the emergency, citing alleged travel disruptions, railway station closures and train cancellations. He accused the government of turning the agitation against the EC into a confrontation with the state. Calling the CEC “original anti-national”, Das said that the government had “completely lost it”.
Das alleged that protesters were detained without notice, denied access to lawyers and had their phones seized. “The protests are on... Protests will happen not just in Delhi but the whole country,” he said. “This protest will not stop till Gyanesh resigns,” co-convener Ashutosh Ranka added. He expressed apprehension that their devices may have been tampered with, including “cloning and hacking”. He said that Delhi Police may have “planted evidence” and examined the contents of their phones.
Questioning the Centre’s alleged attempts to shield the CEC, Das referred to the 2024 Lok Sabha election in Varanasi, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi initially trailed Congress candidate Ajay Rai during counting before winning the seat. “Modi was trailing, and then he won. Does Gyanesh know how that happened?” he asked.
The press conference also saw a brief ruckus with few activists opposing the stir. Das seemed to lose his cool and said, “Such repressive conditions have not been witnessed since the dictatorial regime of 1975.” Das alleged that the security deployment included border forces and personnel airlifted from Kashmir, West Bengal and Naxal-affected regions, which were not only restricting protesters but also disrupting the lives of ordinary residents with no involvement in the agitation.
Talking about Dipke’s grandmother, who died while he was in detention, Ranka alleged that officials showed insensitivity while informing him of the bereavement. Although the Delhi Police, in a video message, refuted the claims.
Ranka also thanked former chief ministers Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee, Manik Sarkar and Pinarayi Vijayan for joining the protests, saying that their participation alongside the youth was crucial to defending democracy. He urged political parties and organisations to sustain their collective efforts. Das also appealed to political parties across ideological lines to unite against the SIR of electoral rolls, arguing that voter rights transcended party interests. “If the right to vote is taken away, it is not good for any party,” he said.
SFI leader Aishe Ghosh said the protests would continue despite restrictions. “Jantar Mantar 2.0 is on. We are on the streets; we will stay on the streets. We will abide by the Constitution,” she said.
As the presser ended, another detention occurred outside the Press Club, where members of NSUI and IYC were sloganeering with placards seeking the CEC’s resignation.