Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) co-founder Abhijeet Dipke said Mumbai Police denied permission for the party's protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on October 2. Dipke said the CJP will launch a Jail Bharo Andolan in Mumbai if authorities stop the party from protesting.
“Mumbai Police has also denied permission for our protest on 2nd October. Such tactics to suppress citizens’ voices are unacceptable," Dipke wrote on X.
CJP Plans Nationwide Protest
The Cockroach Janta Party had called for nationwide protests on October 2. CJP set a deadline of September 26 for Gyanesh Kumar to step down. The protest followed allegations of disagreements within the Election Commission over its decisions and functioning.
CJP planned to start the campaign in Mumbai. It then planned to take the protest to other cities. On September 25, Dipke urged people across India to join the protest.
"If Gyanesh Kumar does not resign by tomorrow, CJP will begin its nationwide protest from Mumbai on 2 October, and take it to cities across India." He also urged citizens to pledge to protect democracy on Gandhi Jayanti.
CJP Volunteers Detained in Guwahati
Earlier on Sunday, the CJP said police detained its co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka and around 40 volunteers in Guwahati. The party claimed that police did not give a reason for the detentions.
Ranka arrived in Guwahati on Saturday. He planned to meet CJP volunteers at the residence of Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) leader Kunki Chowdhury in Dispur. The residence is near the state secretariat. The CJP claimed that police stopped its leaders from holding the meeting.
Dipke Warns of Protest in Assam
Dipke responded to the detentions by warning of protests in Assam. He also challenged Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to arrest all CJP members if the government wanted to stop their protests. The party alleged that authorities detained its leaders to prevent them from meeting volunteers.
Ranka Makes Allegations Against Sarma
Ranka later posted a video on X. The video showed him inside a moving vehicle with police personnel. Ranka was purportedly heard saying that Sarma had detained him and other CJP volunteers because he was "afraid" of the people of Assam.
He said the CJP wanted to "expose" the condition of schools in the state. Police personnel took Ranka away while he spoke to reporters. Ranka claimed that the action showed the chief minister was "afraid of being exposed".
"He (Sarma) is scared that if we show the schools here, the country will know the reality. He is afraid that people will know how their rights were being snatched in Kaziranga for the benefit of corporates. Also, man-made floods have taken scores of lives.
"But, we are not afraid of him. We know that he won the assembly election by redrawing boundaries of constituencies," Ranka alleged.
