Dipke questioned the decision to shut the park, saying the authorities could not close every location where the outfit might organise a demonstration
NEW DELHI: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Thursday claimed police personnel were keeping him under surveillance and said he could be detained overnight or on Friday morning, ahead of the outfit’s planned national flag-waving protest at Connaught Place.Addressing a press conference late Thursday, Dipke said he was prepared to go to jail for waving the Tricolour as the CJP called on supporters to gather at Central Park on Friday, despite the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) announcing a two-day closure of the venue.“Tomorrow, we will peacefully go and wave the Tiranga. As the citizens of this country, if you consider this to be a crime, then you are the biggest traitor,” Dipke said, as quoted by news agency PTI.“If we have to go to jail to wave the Tiranga in this country, then we are ready for it,” he added.Dipke questioned the decision to shut the park, saying the authorities could not close every location where the outfit might organise a demonstration. “Tomorrow, we will say that we will wave the Tiranga at 100 places. So you will shut down all 100 places?” he said.
On X, Dipke alleged that undercover police personnel had surrounded his accommodation and were following him in a white Scorpio.
The proposed march is part of the CJP’s campaign against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The outfit has demanded Kumar’s resignation, alleging that more than 13 crore voters were deleted.Delhi Police has urged people to stay away from the gathering, citing prohibitory orders and saying Connaught Place is not a designated protest site. However, it said a limited group could be allowed to wave the national flag and sing the national anthem at a suitable location.The planned demonstration comes days after CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were sent to judicial custody for entering Jantar Mantar and raising slogans demanding Kumar’s resignation.