CJP’s Dipke questions Modi’s backing for Gyanesh

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Thursday questioned the Centre’s response to protests demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, alleging that the government had brought Delhi to a standstill to protect the poll official. Addressing a press conference at the Press Club of India, Dipke questioned why student activists, opposition leaders and former chief ministers had faced detention during the agitation over electoral rolls and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

“Why is Gyanesh Kumar so important to Narendra Modi? Why should we not believe that Gyanesh Kumar is helping Narendra Modi win elections? If he is not helping him win elections, why is Narendra Modi providing him with so much protection?” Dipke asked.

He alleged that authorities had shut down railway services and closed metro stations in Delhi in the run-up to the October 10 protest, while deploying additional security forces in the national capital.

Also read: SC seeks Centre, Delhi Police response on Jantar Mantar protest site's de-notification

“For whom? For one Gyanesh Kumar,” Dipke said, questioning the scale of the security response. He also criticised the treatment of protesters, saying, “You have even called unfurling the Tricolour a violation of law. For whom? For Gyanesh Kumar?”

Dipke further alleged that the police response had extended to opposition leaders and former chief ministers, naming Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and Pinarayi Vijayan. He questioned why such measures were necessary for an agitation centred on the Chief Election Commissioner.

Earlier at the press conference, AISA leader Neha Bora said the movement for voting rights and against SIR was not the campaign of an individual, political party or organisation, but a wider struggle to protect democratic participation.

“This movement is evidence that the fight for voting rights does not belong to any individual. It does not belong to any political party. It is not a movement of any banner or flag,” Bora said.

She argued that the right to vote was central to democracy and alleged that the detention of CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka was an attempt to suppress the wider movement.

“Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka have not been sent to judicial custody for five days. You have sent the voice of the entire country, the voice for its voting rights, into judicial custody,” Bora said.

Also read: SC issues notice to Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav over SIR march

Bora also alleged that the police response to the protests had included the harassment of journalists covering the agitation. She referred to the detention of journalists despite their press credentials and alleged that a woman journalist who went to file a police complaint over sexual harassment was subsequently named in a counter-FIR. These were allegations made at the press conference.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal criticised what he described as the subversion of constitutional institutions, warning that arbitrary revisions and large-scale deletions from electoral rolls could undermine electoral integrity and democracy. Actor-activist Prakash Raj alleged that Form 7 was being used to systematically remove targeted communities, particularly Muslim voters, from electoral rolls. He also highlighted the plight of affected citizens across 23 districts of Karnataka, saying they could not travel to Delhi to make their concerns heard.

The press conference brought together CJP representatives, civil society figures and student organisations amid the continuing agitation against Kumar and the SIR exercise. The announced speakers included senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Prashant Bhushan, actor-activist Prakash Raj, and student representatives Aishe Ghosh of SFI and Viraaj of AISF.

The CJP has been demanding Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in electoral processes and the SIR exercise. The party had announced its October 10 protest at Jantar Mantar and said the agitation would continue if the CEC did not step down. The Economic Times reported earlier this month that CJP had warned of further protests and sought wider public participation in its campaign for electoral reforms.

The October 10 mobilisation was marked by police action against CJP leaders. According to The Economic Times, Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained after arriving in Delhi ahead of the planned demonstration, with Ajinkya Shinde subsequently named to lead the protest.

The allegations made by Dipke and Bora at Thursday’s press conference were directed at the government, the police and the Election Commission. Their claims about electoral manipulation and the reasons for the security response were not independently established by the statements made at the event.

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