NEW DELHI: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) co-founder Abhijeet Dipke on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of “waging a war against their own countrymen to protect Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar” and questioned the detention of protesters and opposition leaders who have been demanding Kumar’s resignation.
Addressing a press conference along with All India Students’ Association (AISA) president Neha Bora, Students’ Federation of India (SFI) leader Aishe Ghosh and actor Prakash Raj, Dipke criticised the police action against demonstrators, a day after CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were remanded to five days of judicial custody and sent to Tihar Jail.
Young protesters, opposition leaders and former chief ministers faced detention over the past few days. He questioned why government had deployed extensive security measures, including the closure of Metro stations and restrictions on railway services, in response to the protests. Talking about detention of opposition leaders and former chief ministers, including Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and Pinarayi Vijayan, Dipke alleged that the government was using state machinery to shield the CEC.
He criticised the authorities for treating the unfurling of the national flag as a violation of the law, asking why peaceful demonstrations involving the tricolour had prompted such a response. He alleged that the scale of the security arrangements had turned the city into a heavily fortified zone.
Questioning the Centre’s support for Kumar, Dipke alleged that the protection being extended to the CEC raised doubts about whether the poll body chief was helping the BJP win elections. However, these were allegations were not independently established.
AISA activist Neha Bora also expressed her support for journalists and accused the authorities of harassing media personnel covering the protests.
“We saw how cameras were snatched from journalists, and they were told that they would not get the camera if they covered this,” she said. Accusing police of failing to protect people seeking justice, Bora alleged that law enforcement authorities were targeting members of the public instead of maintaining law and order.