Leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) have vowed to expand their protests across India over alleged electoral fraud after being released from Delhi police custody, following a crackdown on demonstrators demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Hundreds of protesters were detained on Saturday as they attempted to gather near Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Young activists again tried to reach the protest venue on Sunday, reports NDTV.
“The fight has just begun,” CJP co-convener Ashutosh Ranka said at a press conference, adding that the movement would continue until Gyanesh Kumar resigned.
CJP leader Saurav Das said demonstrations would be organised across the country, not just in Delhi. He also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of misusing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
CJP chief Abhijeet Dipke left for his hometown in Maharashtra after a Delhi court released the three leaders on Sunday. He travelled to attend his grandmother’s last rites.
Later, Dipke wrote on X that he had not signed any bond promising to refrain from protests and would return to the streets.
Leaders allege unlawful detention
Ranka, Das and Dipke were detained inside an aircraft after their flight from Mumbai landed in Delhi on Saturday morning, police said. They were placed under preventive arrest and produced before an executive magistrate in Delhi Cantonment on Sunday morning.
The magistrate released them on the condition that they would not breach the peace for one year.
Ranka alleged that the three leaders had been “kidnapped” from the aircraft.
Responding to the release conditions, the CJP said on X that none of its leaders had signed a bond agreeing to stop protesting. It said that the condition related to preventing breaches of peace, while peaceful protest was a constitutional right.
Ranka blamed Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar for what he described as the breakdown of peace.
The leaders also demanded that Jantar Mantar be made available as a venue for their demonstrations.
Ranka criticised the authorities over how Dipke was informed of his grandmother’s death while he was in detention, describing their handling of the matter as insensitive.
Ratna Singh, head of the CJP’s legal team, alleged that police personnel had threatened activists’ families and asked them to prevent their children from joining the protests. She also claimed that Intelligence Bureau personnel had tracked her movements and questioned the legal basis for restrictions imposed on activists.
“I am a citizen. I have the right to go anywhere. How can you keep me in wrongful detention?” she asked.
Leaders compare crackdown to Emergency
At least 3,000 protesters, including politicians, were detained on Saturday and most were released later that night. Some estimates put the number of detainees as high as 7,000.
Police imposed a security cordon across the capital to prevent gatherings at Jantar Mantar. YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was among those released late on Saturday night.
Ranka said the events of the previous 72 hours had reminded people of the Emergency imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi between 1975 and 1977.
He alleged that trains had been cancelled under Modi, claiming that even during the Emergency, trains had not been shut down.
Das also accused the central government of creating an “Emergency-like situation” and said the authorities could have invited a delegation of protesters for talks.
Delhi Metro kept 45 stations closed, while the Railways cancelled around 250 trains ahead of Saturday’s demonstrations. Authorities told the Supreme Court on Sunday that operations had returned to normal.
Das further alleged that Delhi Police personnel entered Gurudwara Bangla Sahib wearing shoes and without covering their heads, and forcibly removed protesters. He appealed to the Sikh community to support the demonstrators.
Aishe Ghosh, a leader of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), said the movement would continue.
“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.
Ghosh also alleged that right-wing groups aligned with the BJP had been allowed to assault CJP protesters.
BJP accuses CJP of acting for Opposition
The BJP has described the CJP as an extension of the opposition. BJP president Nitin Nabin alleged that the protesters were seeking to harm India through actions directed by “foreign forces”.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta called the CJP the “B-team” of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal.
Kejriwal was among four former chief ministers detained and later released on Saturday. Gandhi has been leading protests over the same issue for months.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said everyone had the right to express dissent in a democracy but cautioned that this did not extend to creating disorder.
