CJP protest enters Day 3; leaders to seek Jantar Mantar date, Rahul Gandhi calls march

The Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) protest in Delhi entered its third day on Monday, with the organisation's leaders set to approach the Delhi Police to seek a date for holding a peaceful demonstration at Jantar Mantar.

CJP co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka said he, along with co-convenor Saurav Das, legal head Ratna Singh and other leaders, would visit Parliament Street Police Station at 10 am on Monday to seek confirmation of a date for the protest.

“Delhi Police can give us a date for Jantar Mantar in 24 hours, else the CJP will give another protest call,” Ranka said in a post on X on Sunday.

The CJP had planned to hold a demonstration at Jantar Mantar on Saturday, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. However, Delhi Police detained CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, Ranka and Das after their flight from Mumbai landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Saturday.

The leaders alleged that they were forcibly removed from the aircraft and detained without being informed of the written grounds for their detention. They were released on Sunday after being produced before an executive magistrate.

Following their release, the leaders alleged that their phones had been seized and they were denied access to legal counsel during detention. They vowed to continue their agitation, accusing the authorities of preventing protesters from reaching the designated protest site.

Ranka described the developments as reminiscent of the Emergency, alleging that trains had been cancelled and protesters harassed to prevent them from reaching the national capital.

Rahul Gandhi calls march to Supreme Court
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday announced that opposition parties, civil society groups and young people would march to the Supreme Court on Monday, demanding an end to alleged “vote chori”, a halt to the SIR exercise and the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar.

In a post on X, Gandhi said the march would bring together people across party lines, genders, castes, communities and states to defend democracy and the Constitution. He said the participants would submit a memorandum to the Chief Justice of India outlining their demands.

Gandhi also condemned the police action against protesters who gathered in Delhi on Saturday, alleging that young demonstrators who had assembled peacefully were beaten by police personnel and BJP workers.

Supreme Court issues directions
On Sunday, the Supreme Court directed authorities not to illegally detain people gathering peacefully. It also asked them to ensure that Delhi Metro services functioned normally and internet services remained uninterrupted, subject to law-and-order considerations.

A bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana issued notice to the Centre while hearing a plea seeking contempt proceedings over the alleged violation of the court's direction against a “complete prohibition” on metro and train services in Delhi in connection with the CJP protest.

Meanwhile, the police maintained a heavy presence at several locations in the capital to prevent protesters from reaching Jantar Mantar. More than 30,000 police and paramilitary personnel had reportedly been deployed across Delhi as part of the security arrangements.