Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke on Monday reacted to the Delhi Police's decision to de-notify Jantar Mantar as a designated protest venue, saying the entire country would now become a site for demonstrations.
“They have removed Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site. Yes, it’s no longer a protest site as anyway it was turned into a war zone by the coward dictator. Ab poora desh Jantar Mantar banega!” Dipke wrote on X.
The reaction came after a Delhi Police circular on Monday announced that Jantar Mantar would no longer be a designated venue for protests and demonstrations. The circular also named three alternative locations for holding demonstrations in the national capital.
What are the new protest sites?
According to the Delhi Police circular, the Ministry of Home Affairs had constituted a committee to examine alternative venues for citizens to exercise their right to organise protests and demonstrations.
Based on the committee's recommendations, Jantar Mantar was de-notified as a designated protest site. The three new venues identified for demonstrations are Ramlila Ground, Burari Ground and CBD Ground in Shahdara.
The circular said detailed and revised standard operating procedures for organising protests at the three venues would be issued separately.
Jantar Mantar protests and CEC row
Jantar Mantar has been a focal point of youth-led protests since June, led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), founded by Dipke. The demonstrations had previously drawn attention over alleged examination irregularities and demands for accountability from the government.
The site came into focus again last month after an investigative report raised questions about Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged electoral irregularities. The report gave fresh momentum to Opposition allegations of “vote chori” (vote theft) linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
According to the report, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on record at least 14 times over the preceding 10 months to decisions and orders related to the SIR, which they allegedly said were issued without their knowledge or recommendation.
The de-notification of Jantar Mantar follows a weekend of mass detentions in Delhi, including those of several former chief ministers, amid protest calls against Kumar. Delhi Police said the detentions were preventive measures taken to maintain law and order in view of the planned demonstrations by several groups, primarily the CJP.