Cockroach Janta Party 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, questioning the detention of protesters and opposition leaders demanding the poll body chief’s resignation.
Addressing a press conference alongside All India Students’ Association (AISA) leader 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.
Dipke alleged that students, young protesters, opposition leaders and former chief ministers had faced detention for demanding action against Kumar. He questioned why the government had deployed extensive security measures across Delhi, including the closure of metro stations and restrictions on railway services, in response to the protests.
Referring to the 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 Chief Election Commissioner. He also questioned the deployment of security personnel from Jammu and Kashmir in the national capital.
Dipke further 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 Delhi into a heavily fortified zone.
Questioning the Centre’s support for Kumar, Dipke alleged that the protection being extended to the Chief Election Commissioner raised doubts about whether the poll body chief was helping the BJP win elections. These were allegations made by the CJP founder and were not independently established.
The remarks came amid continuing protests by the CJP and opposition parties over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and demands for Kumar’s resignation. The Election Commission has defended the revision exercise, while the BJP has rejected allegations of political bias.
Das and Ranka, along with CJP member Ajinkya Shinde, were detained on Tuesday after crossing police barricades, entering Jantar Mantar and raising slogans demanding Kumar’s resignation. The site was recently de-notified as a designated protest venue, with authorities identifying three alternative locations for demonstrations.
The three were booked on charges including obstructing a public official from discharging their duties. A court subsequently remanded Das and Ranka to five days of judicial custody. Shinde was released on a personal bond, CJP legal team head Ratna Singh said in a post on X.
The arrests have drawn criticism from opposition leaders. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi condemned the detention of Das and Ranka, while leaders across several opposition parties also expressed support for the protesters.
In response to the detentions, Dipke has announced a ‘Tiranga Morcha’ at Central Park in Connaught Place, Delhi, on Friday, October 16, at 5 pm, calling on people to join the demonstration against the action taken against the CJP leaders.
Speaking at the same press conference, AISA activist Neha Bora expressed solidarity with journalists and accused the authorities of harassing media personnel covering the protests.
She alleged that journalists’ cameras had been confiscated and that they had been threatened with the withholding of their equipment if they continued covering the demonstrations.
“We saw how cameras were snatched from journalists and they were told that they would not get the camera if they cover this,” she said.
Bora also raised the allegation that Delhi ACP Vivek Bhagat had sexually harassed a woman journalist and that a counter-FIR was registered against the journalist when she approached the police to file a complaint against him.
Accusing the 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.
“What has happened in this country is that when common people approach the police seeking justice, the police, instead of maintaining law and order, support a particular political party and crack down on the public itself. This is a classic example of what we have been seeing in this country for so long,” she added.
