Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Friday announced that he and his family would join the Cockroach Janata Party's (CJP) protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on October 10, while Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh clarified that the demonstration was being organised by the youth-led outfit and not the AAP.
Appealing to people across the country to gather at Jantar Mantar in large numbers, Kejriwal said the protest was about protecting the country and not any individual or political party.
"I appeal to everyone, to the people of the entire country, to gather at Jantar Mantar in maximum numbers. This is not about one person or party; it is about the nation, and this protest starts tomorrow at Jantar Mantar. I will go, my entire family will go, and all of you should go too," he told reporters.
The CJP has called for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accusing the Election Commission of facilitating alleged voter-list manipulation during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Kejriwal also accused the Centre and the Election Commission of manipulating electoral rolls to benefit the BJP.
"Whoever does not vote for BJP has their vote deleted, fake votes are added, and all this was happening openly under Gyanesh Kumar. The entire country is demanding his resignation," he alleged.
Separately, Sanjay Singh said the CJP would organise Saturday's demonstration, but AAP members would participate alongside other opposition parties.
Speaking to reporters in Sikandarpur after attending the thirteenth-day ritual of senior Samajwadi Party leader Ram Govind Chaudhary, Singh said the protest was part of a broader effort to protect democracy and oppose alleged electoral irregularities.
"It is not our protest; it is the CJP's protest. All parties had participated last time as well, including the Samajwadi Party, Left parties, the Biju Janata Dal and us. Everyone will participate in the CJP protest," he said.
Singh said the October 10 agitation would demand the scrapping of the SIR process, the cancellation of state elections allegedly marred by irregularities, the involvement of the Chief Justice of India in the selection of the Chief Election Commissioner and the use of ballot papers in elections across the country.
He also said political parties had the right to protest in their own way when asked about the agitation against Kumar and a proposed meeting of INDIA bloc leaders with President Droupadi Murmu.
The planned demonstration comes amid an intensifying political confrontation over the SIR exercise, with opposition parties alleging irregularities in electoral rolls and questioning the Election Commission's functioning. The poll body has defended the revision process as part of its electoral roll verification exercise.
(With inputs from PTI)
