The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Monday welcomed the INDIA bloc's planned protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and sought to distance its October 10 mobilisation from the party, describing it as a broader "call of the youth and Gen Z".
CJP co-convener Saurav Das said political parties, student organisations, activists and common people should peacefully assert their rights.
"We welcome all peaceful protests. Everyone should make efforts, be it INDIA bloc or other student organisations or activists, or common people. Everyone needs to assert their rights," Das said at a press conference.
On CJP's October 10 mobilisation, Das said, "You should not consider the call for protests on October 10 as our call or someone else's call. This is the call by the youth and Gen Z. We are one part of that."
His remarks came amid a social media spat over the weekend between CJP and sections aligned with the Congress. The exchange followed a post comparing CJP national convenor Abhijeet Dipke with AISA president Neha Bora.
Dipke and Bora had rejected suggestions of any rivalry, but CJP leaders accused sections of the "liberal ecosystem" of trying to undermine Dipke. AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj also joined the debate, cautioning against replacing one form of "hero worship" with another.
Das said the repeated protests on the streets pointed to a larger problem.
"If people are hitting the streets repeatedly then there is a problem," he said, adding that protests were the "last resort" for people who felt they were not being heard.
Das also claimed that CJP had been informed by "well-wishers" within the establishment that its leaders could be arrested ahead of the October 10 protest.
"Well wishers have informed us that meetings are taking place and there is a high possibility that CJP leaders could be arrested," he said.
He asserted that the protest would continue even if the party's leaders were arrested or detained.
"Even if we are arrested or detained the protest will go on because this is the fight for our future," Das said, adding that the "fear of FIR, fear of jail has evaporated".
On the planned mobilisation, Das said Jantar Mantar had become a "symbol of hope and victory" and that protesters would sit wherever police stopped them.
"Wherever police stops us, we will sit there and that will become Jantar Mantar," he said.
Das also criticised the Election Commission over its statement on changes to Form 6, citing the Supreme Court's remarks during Monday's hearing.
"The EC sought to clarify in its press statement that the Supreme Court upheld changes in Form 6. Today, the Supreme Court has said the EC lied," he said.
Chief Justice Surya Kant said during the hearing that the Supreme Court had not approved any modification to Form 6.
The issue relates to the EC's September 26 statement, issued after a full commission meeting, which said the "declaration attached to Form 6 for SIR has been upheld by the Hon'ble Supreme Court".
(With inputs from PTI)
