Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Thursday questioned whether the proposed deletion of more than 13 crore voters from electoral rolls was a “setting”, accusing the government of seeking to shape election results by removing voters’ names.
Speaking at a press conference attended by All India Students’ Association national president Neha Bora, Students’ Federation of India leader Aishe Ghosh, All India Students’ Federation national president Viraaj Devang and actor Prakash Raj, among others, Dipke also criticised the sweeping curbs imposed in Delhi ahead of protests seeking Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.
He accused the authorities of using the restrictions to keep people away from the demonstrations and stifle opposition to the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Questioning the deletions against the backdrop of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he said, "The margin of victory in 2024 was just 2 per cent. Over 13 crore voters deleted."
"Where 2 per cent is deciding the election, you are deleting 13 crore votes. What is this if not a setting," he asked.
The BJP won 240 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats in 2024 with 36.56 per cent of the votes polled, while the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured 293 seats to form the government.
On the crackdown on protesters, Dipke said, "Former chief ministers, MPs, leaders of opposition, all were detained. For the first time in the history of India, the Railways was shut and metros were shut for Gyanesh," he said, questioning why the government was protecting the chief election commissioner.
Describing the slogan of 'One Nation, One Election' as a cover for a different political objective, he said, "'One Nation, One Election' was a slogan. The real intention is 'One Nation, One Party, One Leader'."
Dipke also accused the government of targeting protesters carrying the national flag.
"Those who never embraced the tricolour are attacking it. Our comrades were walking in Connaught Place with the tricolour and have all been detained. When did holding the tiranga become a crime," he asked.
The CJP has announced a "Lehra do Tiranga" march at Central Park in Connaught Place here on Friday.
Dipke urged citizens to join the demonstration, asserting that waving the national flag was a democratic right. He also appealed to political parties to join.
"(Narendra) Modi cannot be bigger than (Mahatma) Gandhi and (Jawaharlal) Nehru," he added.
Bora alleged that the police had targeted journalists covering the protests, detaining them despite their press credentials and snatching their cameras.
She also referred to an alleged sexual harassment incident involving a journalist, in which an FIR was registered, and accused the police of using force against people raising concerns over electoral rights.
"Police, instead of maintaining law and order, crack down on the public. This is a classic example of what we have seen," she said.
"You send the voice supporting the right to vote to jail. When you drag common people, you are dragging those 13 crore people," she said.
Ghosh urged citizens to unite to defend democracy, saying she placed her faith in the people rather than the ruling BJP.
"Gyanesh has helped them win the whole country," she alleged.
"We don't have hopes with the BJP, we have hopes with our citizens. It is time for all of us to unite. The country for which Bhagat Singh fought and Gandhi sacrificed, we have to save this country," she said.
Ghosh also referred to the treatment of the parents of Ankita Bhandari, a resort receptionist who was murdered in Uttarakhand in 2022, alleging that they had been dragged and treated brutally.
Criticising what she described as the impunity enjoyed by people accused of serious crimes, she said, "Rapists are being garlanded."
The press conference was briefly disrupted when a reporter allegedly interrupted Bora while she was speaking and began shouting. He was subsequently escorted away.